Potentiality of uranium extraction from acidic leach liquor by polyacrylamide-acrylic acid titanium silicate composite adsorbent

Abstract

ABSTRACTUranium has an important role in nuclear reactors and nuclear power supply. In this study, the recovery of uranium from sulphate leach liquor was investigated using synthesised poly (acrylamide-acrylic acid)-titanium silicate (P-(AM-AA)-TS) composite as an adsorbent. The polymer composite was prepared by gamma radiation polymerisation of acrylic acid (AA monomer), polyacrylamide (PAM, template), bisacrylamide (BAA, crosslinker) and titanium silicate as an adsorbent for uranium recovery. The (P-(AM-AA)-TS) was studied for recovery of uranium from sulphate leach liquor. Different reaction parameters affecting the uranium sorption were investigated, namely pH, contact time, temperature, uranium concentration and a dose of the adsorbent to sulphate leach liquor. Adsorption per cent of uranium reached 98.6% from leach liquor of pH 2.5; initial uranium concentration is 700 mg/L at room temperature using 0.1 g P-(AM-AA)-TS adsorbent for 120 min. The theoretical studies showed that the batch isotherm fits with the Langmuir model. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent reached 64.1 mg/g based on the Langmuir model.