Uranyl ions (UO2) are the most common form of uranium. Recapturing these ions from nuclear fuel waste is a key step in recycling the waste and restarting the fuel cycle.
Although the uranium used in nuclear fuel was traditionally sourced from terrestrial mines, uranyl ions can also be found in ocean environments. Because seawater contains 1,000 times more uranyl than all terrestrial mines combined, it has gained significant attention as a potential source of nuclear fuel.
The most common techniques for uranium extraction rely on materials with strong affinities to the metal, such as porous carbon-based materials or chelating polymers, i.e., polymers that form several covalent bonds with a metal to extract it.
However, with most of these methods, releasing uranium after its capture is often difficult or destructive, hindering the widespread reuse of the metal. At the Univ. of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), chemists are using a unique molecule to extract then release uranium: carborane...
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