Abstract:
Uranium extraction from seawater using amidoxime adsorbent gel was researched. The gel was synthesized from a mixture of monomers and crosslink agent irradiated with ultraviolet ray. Synthesis was performed by using acrylonitrile and methacrylic acid monomers dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide, hydrogen peroxide as a free radical generator and methylene bisacrylamide as a crosslink agent, and irradiated with ultraviolet ray for 8 hours. Studied parameters were radio of acrylonitrile to methacrylic acid at 80:20, 60:40 and 40:60, volume of hydrogen peroxide at 50, 60, 80 and 100 ml per 100 ml monomer and crosslink agent at 1, 2 and 4 g per 100 ml monomer. After submersion in seawater in a laboratory for 4 weeks, it was found that at the ratio 80:20, volume of hydrogen peroxide 60 ml and 1 g of crosslink-agent, uranium adsorption was evaluated to be 2.36 mg U/g adsorbent, which was highest. If the volume of hydrogen peroxide was reduced to 50 ml, the adsorption became 2.2 mg U/g adsorbent. For the monomer ratio of 60:40, the volume of hydrogen peroxide 60 and 50 ml and 1 g of crosslink agent, the adsorption was 1.42 and 1.23 mg U/g adsorbent, respectively. The highly enhanced uranium adsorption was a direct result of using the amidoxime gel without having the amidoxime groups grafted onto fibers, which increased the weight of the adsorbent.