Uranium Adsorption from Aqueous Solution by Trioctylamine Impregnated Polyurethane Foam

Abstract

The present work indicates that the recovery of uranium from dilute aqueous solutions. The sorption behavior of uranium (VI) was investigated in dilute uranyl nitrate solutions by polyurethane foam impregnated with trioctylamine (TOA) and the fact that extraction is high at use acidic solutions, such as waste acidic leach solutions. The polyurethane foam acts as a cheap and readily available support material for TOA, percentage of solvent and extraction efficiency were evaluated together. The stripping of uranium is easy using H2O; 1M NaOH+0.1M H2SO4; HNO3; Tartaric acid; citric acid and Na2CO3. This method can also be used for concentrated uranium solutions because the TOA-impregnated foam has a high extraction capacity. On the other hand, the effects of some interfering impurities need to be studied in order to apply this method to real solutions.