Self-Assembly Approach for Uranium Extraction from Seawater
Abstract
Efficient uranium extraction from seawater remains a highly challenging task due to the lack of an available approach to access a precise uranium-identified site in the adsorbent. To this end, we demonstrate herein a novel in situ self-assembly approach by directly using two organic molecules, 2,6-pyridinedicarboxaldehyde and terephthalohydrazide, to execute in situ in-plane self-assembly with [UO 2 (CO 3 ) 3 ] 4– composite anions through both covalent Schiff base condensation and coordination with UO 2 2+ ions. Through such a self-assembly approach, we can create a precise UO 2 2+ -identified site conveniently, thus allowing for not only a record uranium selectivity over vanadium ( S U/V = 600) but also a uranium uptake of 16.91 mg/g from natural seawater in 7 days.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Radioactive element chemistry and processing
Covalent Organic Framework Applications
Extraction and Separation Processes
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Volume
- 65
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 3570–3576
- Publication date
- 3 February 2026
- Language
- EN