Uranium recovery from seawater offers a promising route for producing scalable and sustainable nuclear energy because the world’s oceans contain hundreds of times more uranium than lands. A current adsorption method presents limitations including low extraction capacity and slow extraction kinetics, making realistic implementation impractical. Here we develop an electrochemical extraction approach that demonstrates high extraction capacity and fast extraction kinetics in uranium recovery. In the electrochemical approach, chitosan-functionalized electrodes were used to offer surface specific binding to uranyl ions; voltages were then supplied to attract the ions to the electrode and induce electrodeposition of uranyl ions to form charge-neutral uranium species. The electrodeposition approach demonstrated nearly 8 times higher uranium extraction capacities and 3 times faster extraction rates than the current adsorption method in uranium-spiked seawater. Because of the excellent uranium extraction performance, the electrochemical approach allows for highly efficient recovery of uranium from seawater.

中文翻译：

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使用电化学方法从海水中高效回收铀

从海水中回收铀为生产可扩展和可持续的核能提供了一条有希望的途径，因为世界海洋中的铀比陆地多数百倍。当前的吸附方法存在局限性，包括低萃取容量和缓慢的萃取动力学，使得现实的实施不切实际。在这里，我们开发了一种电化学萃取方法，该方法展示了铀回收中的高萃取能力和快速萃取动力学。在电化学方法中，使用壳聚糖功能化的电极来提供与铀酰离子的表面特异性结合。然后提供电压以将离子吸引到电极上并引起铀酰离子的电沉积，从而形成电荷中性铀物质。电沉积方法显示出的铀萃取能力比目前在铀加标海水中的吸附方法高出近8倍，萃取速率快3倍。由于出色的铀提取性能，电化学方法可从海水中高效回收铀。