Adsorption of Uranyl Ions from Seawater Using Chemically Modified Sago Hampas

Uranium is a crucial resource for nuclear energy; however, its terrestrial reserves are limited, and conventional mining methods pose significant environmental risks. Extracting uranium from seawater presents a sustainable alternative, but the low concentration of uranyl ions and competing ion...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Muhammad Firdaus, Maligan
Format: Thesis
Language:English
English
Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/48508/
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Summary:Uranium is a crucial resource for nuclear energy; however, its terrestrial reserves are limited, and conventional mining methods pose significant environmental risks. Extracting uranium from seawater presents a sustainable alternative, but the low concentration of uranyl ions and competing ions in seawater create challenges. Raw sago hampas (RSH) was grafted with oxygen-containing functional group through a functionalization process to form esterified sago hampas (ESH) for U(VI) adsorption and evaluated using adsorption kinetics, isotherm, and thermodynamics studies. Adsorption kinetics studies show that both adsorbents follow pseudo-second-order model while isotherm studies conclude that both adsorption processes fitted Sips isotherm model. Thermodynamic studies indicate both adsorption processes exhibited by the RSH and ESH were endothermic but spontaneous and non-spontaneous respectively. Strongs acids are tested to be the best desorption agents to release U(VI) from surfaces’ of RSH and ESH. The findings of this study contribute to the development of sustainable uranium extraction methods and offer an environmentally friendly approach for biosorption in nuclear resource management.