Novel photocatalytic method shows 99.3% uranium removal in nuclear wastewater, highlighting the potential of a heterojunction approach.
Photocatalytic uranium extraction has emerged as a promising strategy for recovering uranium from nuclear wastewater and seawater. Designing photocatalysts with high reduction efficiency and effective uranium enrichment is crucial for advancing this approach. Herein, a novel uranium extraction strategy is proposed, integrating photocatalytic reduction with assembly‐assisted crystallization, utilizing a Cd‐ZIF‐8‐derived dot‐in‐caged AIS@CdS fabric, which can operate under weak sunlight, eliminate the need for sacrificial agents, and overcome recovering powdered catalysts in marine environments. The optimized 4AIS@CdS achieved a remarkable uranium removal efficiency of 99.3% under visible light without sacrificial agents, with a reaction rate of 2.1 times and 37.3 times higher than CdS and AIS, respectively. Structural investigations revealed the formation of needle‐like crystals of UO 2 in AIS@CdS fabric. Band analysis suggests that the heterojunction between AIS and CdS facilitates the separation/transfer of photogenerated carriers, while the dot‐in‐caged structure provides suitable thermodynamic circumvents for reductive crystallization of U(VI). The 4AIS@CdS fabric achieved a uranium extraction capacity of 1.05 mg g −1 after 15 h of sunlight irradiation. These findings not only offer a new pathway for efficient uranium recovery from aqueous solutions under weak light conditions but also highlight the potential of fabric‐based photocatalytic systems for scalable and sustainable uranium extraction.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Huang et al. (2025) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: