There is abundant uranium resource in saline lakes, but extracting it for use is challenging due to the high salinity background. This study tested the application of the photocatalysis method for the efficient extraction of uranium from saline lake brine. The results showed that 50% of U(VI) was photocatalytically reduced in pure brine, while the extraction of U(VI) increased when brine was diluted with saline lake water. The photocatalytic extraction of U(VI) was restricted under acidic conditions, and ~100% of U(VI) could be recovered at pH ~5.5 from diluted brine. By applying the photocatalytic method, a high extraction capacity of 3010 mg/g could be achieved after 6 h UV irradiation, and the extracted uranium could be easily eluted by adding 0.1 M Na₂CO₃ after exposing to air for hours. During the photocatalytic reactions, U(VI) was reduced to U(IV), existing in the form of (UO₂)O₂·2H₂O. In the practical application without spiked U(VI), 72 μg U(VI) could be recovered from 250 mL real brine, which was three times higher than the physicochemical adsorption. It is demonstrated that photocatalysis is a simple, green and efficient method for uranium extraction from saline lake water/brine.

盐湖中有丰富的铀资源，但由于盐分高，因此要开采铀资源具有挑战性。这项研究测试了光催化方法从盐湖盐水中有效萃取铀的应用。结果表明，纯盐水中50％的U（VI）被光催化还原，而当盐水用盐湖水稀释时，U（VI）的提取增加。在酸性条件下限制了U（VI）的光催化萃取，在pH约为5.5的情况下，可以从稀盐水中回收约100％的U（VI）。通过使用光催化方法，紫外线照射6 h后可达到3010 mg / g的高萃取容量，并且通过添加0.1 M Na ₂ CO ₃可以很容易地洗脱铀。暴露在空气中数小时后。在光催化反应过程中，U（VI）还原为U（IV），以（UO ₂）O ₂ ·2H ₂ O的形式存在。在没有加标U（VI）的实际应用中，有72μgU（VI）可以从250 mL实际盐水中回收，比物理化学吸附高出三倍。结果表明，光催化是从盐湖水/盐水中提取铀的一种简单，绿色和有效的方法。