Desorption of Uranium from Amidoxime Fiber Adsorbent

Abstract

An amidoxime fibrous adsorbent is contacted with uranium-enriched seawater (10 ppm); about 10 mg uranium is loaded per 1 g dry fiber. Then the rate and yield of uranium desorption from the fiber are determined with various eluents. Acid solutions are superior to alkali carbonate solutions as eluents. With a 0.1 mol·L⁻¹ HCl solution, desorption is completed in 2 hours regardless of the presence of uranium in the leaching solution up to 15 ppm (≍ 6 × 10⁻⁵ mol·L⁻¹). Serial operation of the adsorption-desorption cycle four times does not affect desorption efficiency, but the addition of heavy metal ions to the eluent at a level of 1.8 × 10⁻³ mol·L⁻¹ significantly decreases desorption efficiency.