Ye Yin, Jin Jian, Liang Yanru, Qin Zemin, Tang Xin, Feng Yanyue, Lv Miao, Miao Shiyu, Li Cui, Chen Yanlong, Chen Fan, Wang Yuheng
School of Ecology and Environment, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 710129 Xi'an, P. R. China.
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden.
iScience. 2021 Oct 7;24(11):103230. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103230. eCollection 2021 Nov 19.
Current photocatalytic uranium (U) extraction methods have intrinsic obstacles, such as the recombination of charge carriers, and the deactivation of catalysts by extracted U. Here we show that, by applying a bias potential on the photocatalyst, the photoelectrochemical (PEC) method can address these limitations. We demonstrate that, owing to efficient spatial charge-carriers separation driven by the applied bias, the PEC method enables efficient and durable U extraction. The effects of multiple operation conditions are investigated. The U extraction proceeds via single-step one-electron reduction, resulting in the formation of pentavalent U, which can facilitate future studies on this often-overlooked U species. In real seepage water the PEC method achieves an extraction capacity of 0.67 gU m·h without deactivation for 156 h continuous operation, which is 17 times faster than the photocatalytic method. This work provides an alternative tool for U resource recovery and facilitates future studies on U(V) chemistry.
当前的光催化铀（U）提取方法存在固有障碍，例如电荷载流子的复合以及被提取的铀使催化剂失活。在此我们表明，通过在光催化剂上施加偏置电势，光电化学（PEC）方法可以解决这些限制。我们证明，由于所施加的偏置驱动电荷载流子有效分离，PEC方法能够实现高效且持久的铀提取。研究了多种操作条件的影响。铀的提取通过单步单电子还原进行，生成五价铀，这有助于对这种常被忽视的铀物种开展进一步研究。在实际渗流水中，PEC方法实现了0.67 gU·m⁻²·h的提取容量，连续运行156小时未失活，比光催化方法快17倍。这项工作为铀资源回收提供了一种替代工具，并促进了对U(V)化学的未来研究。
