Uranium extraction from seawater: material design, emerging technologies and marine engineering

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Science
• Nuclear Engineering

Background:

• Uranium extraction from seawater (UES) is crucial for sustainable nuclear energy.
• Recent progress includes high-capacity adsorbents and scaled-up marine tests.
• Current UES systems face challenges in marine environments, deployment, and economic feasibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an up-to-date overview of advancements in UES.
• To highlight new insights into UES mechanisms and adsorbent development.
• To discuss challenges and perspectives for technically and economically viable UES.

Main Methods:

• Review of innovative synthetic strategies for uranium adsorbents.
• Analysis of mechanistic basis for UES.
• Emphasis on electrochemical and photochemical strategies for UES systems.
• Summary of recent marine test achievements.

Main Results:

• Development of promising adsorbents with high capacities.
• Advancements in function-oriented adsorbent development (capacity, selectivity, resistance, durability).
• Emergence of electrochemical and photochemical strategies for efficient UES.
• Progress in marine field tests by several countries.

Conclusions:

• UES technology has advanced significantly but requires solutions for environmental, technical, and economic challenges.
• Further research into adsorbent properties, deployment, and economic viability is essential.
• Innovative ideas and technical solutions are needed to develop practical UES systems.