The chelating adsorbents, heterocyclic azo dyes supported on silica gel, were prepared and their adsorption behaviors of metal ions were investigated. The 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol(PAN)-SG and 2-(2-thiazolylazo)-p-cresol(TAC)-SG show greater affinity for UO2(II) and ZrO(II), compared with the other metal ions like Cu, Cd, Fe and alkaline earths. Trace uranyl can be quantitatively retained on the column of the gels at neutral pH region and flow-rate 3–4 ml/min. The uranyl retained is easily eluted from the column bed with a mixture of acetone and nitric acid(9:1 v/v) and determined by spectrophotometry using Arsenazo-III. Matrix components in seawater do not interfere and the spiked recovery of uranyl in artificial seawater was found to be average 98.6 %, with the relative standard deviation of 1.08 %. Both gels were applied to the determination of uranium in seawater with satisfactory results.