Ion pair sites for efficient electrochemical extraction of uranium in real nuclear wastewater.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38755163.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-48564-y and PMC identifier 11099191.
- 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
Electrochemical uranium extraction from nuclear wastewater represents an emerging strategy for recycling uranium resources. However, in nuclear fuel production which generates the majority of uranium-containing nuclear wastewater, fluoride ion (F<sup>-</sup>) co-exists with uranyl (UO<sub>2</sub><sup>2+</sup>), resulting in the complex species of UO<sub>2</sub>F<sub>x</sub> and thus decreasing extraction efficiency. Herein, we construct Ti<sup>δ+</sup>-PO<sub>4</sub><sup>3-</sup> ion pair extraction sites in Ti(OH)PO<sub>4</sub> for efficient electrochemical uranium extraction in wastewater from nuclear fuel production. These sites selectively bind with UO<sub>2</sub>F<sub>x</sub> through the combined Ti-F and multiple O-U-O bonds. In the uranium extraction, the uranium species undergo a crystalline transition from U<sub>3</sub>O<sub>7</sub> to K<sub>3</sub>UO<sub>2</sub>F<sub>5</sub>. In real nuclear wastewater, the uranium is electrochemically extracted with a high efficiency of 99.6% and finally purified as uranium oxide powder, corresponding to an extraction capacity of 6829 mg g<sup>-1</sup> without saturation. This work paves an efficient way for electrochemical uranium recycling in real wastewater of nuclear production.