Breakthrough in the field of uranium immobilization

The New Energy and Nuclear Environmental Materials Group (NEM Group) at SWUST has announced groundbreaking advancements in catalytic uranium separation and enrichment from radioactive nuclear wastewater. The significant findings, led by young faculty member Distinguished Professor Meng Qi from the School of Materials and Chemistry and corresponding author Professor Duan Tao, were published in the high-profile new journal SusMat.

Realizing the separation/enrichment of radionuclides in reprocessing wastewater is an important technical means to ensure the sustainable development of nuclear technology and safeguard environmental safety. Uranium, a key nuclide in the nuclear fuel cycle, also poses a global environmental pollutant due to its radioactivity and chemical toxicity. Therefore, immobilizing uranium species from wastewater fulfills the dual aspirations of wastewater purification and strategic resource recovery. However,  the intricate chemistry of reprocessed wastewater presents challenges that constrain efficient uranium recovery. Addressing these challenges head-on, members of the NEM Group have developed an environmentally resilient heterojunction photocatalyst with significant redox properties, utilizing a photo-enhanced uranium adsorption strategy. This groundbreaking technology has propelled uranium removal rates to over 93% and immobilization rates to exceed 83%, marking a significant leap forward in uranium recovery from wastewater to a world-leading level. Furthermore, this achievement offers new insights and possibilities for photo-enhanced re-enrichment of uranium species from spent fuel wastewater.

The journal SusMat, a high-profile new-comer in the natural sciences, pursues sustainable development through material innovation, focusing on cutting-edge hotspots and latest achievements in sustainable materials research. It is committed to building a beautiful China with lucid waters and lush mountains and achieving the national strategic goals of carbon peaking and neutrality. The publication of this paper underscores the remarkable progress SWUST has attained in the field of catalytic uranium separation and enrichment, demonstrating a high level of research expertise.

Paper link:

https://doi.org/10.1002/sus2.199

Edited by Yang Shufan

Translated by Chen Yaqi

Drafted by the State Key Laboratory of Environment-friendly Energy Materials