Multi-scale computer-aided design and photo-controlled macromolecular synthesis boosting uranium harvesting from seawater.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35798729.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-31360-x and PMC identifier 9262957.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
By integrating multi-scale computational simulation with photo-regulated macromolecular synthesis, this study presents a new paradigm for smart design while customizing polymeric adsorbents for uranium harvesting from seawater. A dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) approach, combined with a molecular dynamics (MD) study, is performed to simulate the conformational dynamics and adsorption process of a model uranium grabber, i.e., PAO<sub>m</sub>-b-PPEGMA<sub>n</sub>, suggesting that the maximum adsorption capacity with atomic economy can be achieved with a preferred block ratio of 0.18. The designed polymers are synthesized using the PET-RAFT polymerization in a microfluidic platform, exhibiting a record high adsorption capacity of uranium (11.4 ± 1.2 mg/g) in real seawater within 28 days. This study offers an integrated perspective to quantitatively assess adsorption phenomena of polymers, bridging metal-ligand interactions at the molecular level with their spatial conformations at the mesoscopic level. The established protocol is generally adaptable for target-oriented development of more advanced polymers for broadened applications.