The feasibility of uranium recovery from lean uranium solutions (like seawater) having extremely low concentrations has been explored using an iminodiacetic acid (ImDAc) modified mesoporous silica (MPS) adsorbent (MPS-ImDAc). Foremost, synthesis of the MPS, its chemical modification using ImDAc and characterization were emphasized. The MPS was prepared by a template assisted preparative route, and the incorporation of ImDAc moiety to the MPS was accomplished through chemical functionalization. Subsequently, the adsorption efficacy of the MPS-ImDAc has been investigated as a function of the pH of the aqueous medium, kinetics of adsorption, uranium loading to the adsorbent, and the effect of interfering elements. Zeta potential analyses were also conducted to investigate the role of ImDAc functional groups and charges at different pH values, and the study suggested that the negatively charged acetate moiety is likely responsible for adsorption above pH.The adsorption has been modeled using pseudo-first and second order kinetic and the Langmuir adsorption isotherm models. Superior adsorption of uranium above pH 4, based on cation exchange mechanism that leads to an adsorption capacity of approximately 110 mg/g was observed. Adsorption characteristics have been investigated from a synthetic seawater composition with all possible interfering elements, and the study confirmed that though sodium is significantly present in sea water, it has negligible adsorption to ImDAc and thus pose no competition to uranium adsorption. Small pore size and massive surface area of MPS in combination with uranium selective ImDAc functional group offer excellent uranium adsorption.

使用亚氨基二乙酸（ImDAc）改性介孔二氧化硅（MPS）吸附剂（MPS-ImDAc）探索了从浓度极低的贫铀溶液（如海水）中回收铀的可行性 。首先，强调了 MPS 的合成、使用 ImDAc 对其进行化学修饰以及表征。MPS 通过模板辅助制备途径制备，并通过化学功能化将 ImDAc 部分掺入 MPS 中。随后，研究了 MPS-ImDAc 的吸附功效与水介质 pH 值、吸附动力学、吸附剂的铀负载量以及干扰元素的影响的函数关系。还进行了Zeta 电位分析，以研究 ImDAc 官能团和电荷在不同 pH 值下的作用，研究表明带负电荷的乙酸酯部分可能是 pH 值以上吸附的原因。吸附已使用伪第一和第二模型进行了建模级动力学和 Langmuir 吸附等温线模型。基于阳离子交换机制，在 pH 值高于 4 时，可观察到铀的优异吸附，导致吸附容量约为 110 mg/g。对含有所有可能干扰元素的合成海水组合物的吸附特性进行了研究，研究证实，尽管海水中大量存在钠，但它对 ImDAc 的吸附可以忽略不计，因此不会与铀吸附形成竞争。MPS 的小孔径和大表面积与铀选择性 ImDAc 官能团相结合，可提供出色的铀吸附作用。