The Collection of Uranium from Sea Water with Hydrous Metal Oxide. III. The Effects of Diverse Ions in Sea Water on Uranium Adsorption by Hydrous Titanium(IV) Oxide

Abstract

Abstract The effect of diverse ions present in sea water on the uranium adsorption is elucidated in the present paper. The uranium-adsorption experiments were conducted using sea water and a solution containing 0.72 mol dm−3 NaCl and 2.3×10−3 mol dm−3 NaHCO3. The uranium uptake was about ten times larger from the NaCl–NaHCO3 solution than from sea water. The ions which depressed the uranium uptake were the calcium, magnesium, and fluoride present in sea water. Among these ions, calcium had the largest effect on the uranium uptake. The analysis of calcium and carbonate in the adsorbent after the adsorption experiment has revealed that the molar ratio between calcium and carbonate was about one. It was considered that calcium carbonate was deposited on the adsorbent during the uranium adsorption. The specific surface area and the pore volume decreased after the deposition of calcium carbonate. It was supposed that the decrease in the uranium uptake was caused by the coverage of the surface of hydrous titanium(IV) oxide with calcium carbonate. Magnesium ions depressed the uranium uptake in the same manner as calcium ions. The effect of the magnesium ions, however, was relatively small compared with that of the calcium ions.