Bipolar Uranium Extraction From Seawater With Ultra-Low Cell Voltage
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As prevalent as uranium is in the earth’s crust, the world’s oceans hold approximately a thousand times more uranium—around 4.5 billion tons—than can currently be mined. This immense potential makes the extraction of uranium and other resources from seawater a compelling venture, provided that a technological solution can be found to efficiently filter these highly diluted substances in an economically viable manner. Recent research has made significant strides toward achieving this goal.
The electrochemical method employed for uranium extraction is detailed in a study by Yanjing Wang and colleagues, published in *Nature Sustainability*. The researchers claim that their technique can recover up to 100% of the uranium found in seawater at an estimated cost of about $83 per kilogram. This is significantly cheaper than previous methods and is competitive with current uranium spot prices, which hover around $70 to $85.
A noteworthy aspect of this low-voltage extraction method is that the conversion of uranium oxide ions to solid uranium oxides occurs at both the anode and cathode, unlike traditional electrochemical methods. In this process, the copper anode participates in the chemical reaction, resulting in UO2 being deposited on the cathode and U3O8 on the anode.
Among the performance metrics reported for this prototype, it demonstrated the ability to extract UO22+ ions from sodium chloride solutions at concentrations ranging from 1 to 50 parts per million (ppm). At a concentration of 20 ppm, and in the presence of Cl– ions (common in seawater), the extraction rate reached approximately 100%, in stark contrast to the roughly 9.1% efficiency achieved through adsorption methods. Remarkably, this extraction was accomplished using only a cell voltage of 0.6 V and a current of 50 mA, all while maintaining a high selectivity for uranium.
Additionally, the process effectively prevents copper pollution in the water, as any dissolved copper from the anode was found on the cathode after testing. The technique was also applied to actual seawater samples from the East and South China Seas, yielding a 100% recovery rate over ten hours for one sample and an 85.3% recovery rate for the other.
With potential optimizations for the electrodes suggested by the authors, this extraction method could become a feasible approach for recovering uranium not only from seawater but also from uranium mining facilities and beyond.
Original article by NenPower, If reposted, please credit the source: https://nenpower.com/blog/innovative-low-voltage-method-for-efficient-uranium-extraction-from-seawater/
