Development of Sorbers for the Recovery of Uranium from Seawater. 1. Assessment of Key Parameters and Screening Studies of Sorber Materials

Abstract

At an average uranium content of 3.3 ppb the oceans can be considered as a very low-grade but practically unlimited source of uranium. Some essential chemical aspects of a large-scale sorptive recovery of uranium from seawater are discussed with special emphasis on required sorber properties such as high physical and chemical stability in seawater, fast and selective uptake of uranium, as well as a sufficient loading capacity. Systematic screening tests, including about 200 sorber materials on the basis of organic ion-exchange resins, identified cross-linked poly(acrylamidoximes) as the most promising candidate sorbers. Their uranium uptake closely approaches the uranium content of actually explored uranium ores.