Creating electrochemical accessibility in covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction via electrodeposition

Abstract The demand for mining metals via electrodeposition drives the need for high-performance electrodes. Traditional adsorbents are electrically insulating, limiting efficiency due to poor electrical contact. We overcome this by infiltrating conductive polymers into adsorbent pores, enhancing el...

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Main Authors: Yanpei Song, Linxiao Hou, Pui Ching Lan, Zhiwei Xing, Qi Sun, Jia Lv, Jingwei Li, Daliang Zhang, Zhifeng Dai, Thamraa AlShahrani, Shengqian Ma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-08-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62501-7
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author Yanpei Song
Linxiao Hou
Pui Ching Lan
Zhiwei Xing
Qi Sun
Jia Lv
Jingwei Li
Daliang Zhang
Zhifeng Dai
Thamraa AlShahrani
Shengqian Ma
author_facet Yanpei Song
Linxiao Hou
Pui Ching Lan
Zhiwei Xing
Qi Sun
Jia Lv
Jingwei Li
Daliang Zhang
Zhifeng Dai
Thamraa AlShahrani
Shengqian Ma
author_sort Yanpei Song
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The demand for mining metals via electrodeposition drives the need for high-performance electrodes. Traditional adsorbents are electrically insulating, limiting efficiency due to poor electrical contact. We overcome this by infiltrating conductive polymers into adsorbent pores, enhancing electrical connectivity and aligning chelators. This improves electrical pathways, enabling rapid nucleation and high space-time efficiency. Electrochemical uranium uptake from spiked seawater reaches 26.5 g uranium per gram of adsorbents, four times higher than electrodes mixing adsorbents with carbon black, and two orders of magnitude higher than physicochemical methods. The system also achieves uranium mining from natural seawater at 17.4 mg g−1 with an enrichment index of 1.1 × 10⁷. This strategy offers a blueprint for designing electrodes with better electronic access to active sites, boosting performance in electrically driven processes.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2041-1723
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publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-d2180aff39b846328ab3657a8aad2e7b2025-08-20T04:03:03ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-08-0116111010.1038/s41467-025-62501-7Creating electrochemical accessibility in covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction via electrodepositionYanpei Song0Linxiao Hou1Pui Ching Lan2Zhiwei Xing3Qi Sun4Jia Lv5Jingwei Li6Daliang Zhang7Zhifeng Dai8Thamraa AlShahrani9Shengqian Ma10Department of Chemistry, University of North Texas, 1508 W Mulberry StZhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Chemical Engineering Manufacture Technology, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang UniversityDepartment of Chemistry, University of North Texas, 1508 W Mulberry StZhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Chemical Engineering Manufacture Technology, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang UniversityZhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Chemical Engineering Manufacture Technology, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang UniversityMulti-scale Porous Materials Center, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies & School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing UniversityMulti-scale Porous Materials Center, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies & School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing UniversityMulti-scale Porous Materials Center, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies & School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing UniversityKey Laboratory of Surface & Interface Science of Polymer Materials of Zhejiang Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech UniversityDepartment of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman UniversityDepartment of Chemistry, University of North Texas, 1508 W Mulberry StAbstract The demand for mining metals via electrodeposition drives the need for high-performance electrodes. Traditional adsorbents are electrically insulating, limiting efficiency due to poor electrical contact. We overcome this by infiltrating conductive polymers into adsorbent pores, enhancing electrical connectivity and aligning chelators. This improves electrical pathways, enabling rapid nucleation and high space-time efficiency. Electrochemical uranium uptake from spiked seawater reaches 26.5 g uranium per gram of adsorbents, four times higher than electrodes mixing adsorbents with carbon black, and two orders of magnitude higher than physicochemical methods. The system also achieves uranium mining from natural seawater at 17.4 mg g−1 with an enrichment index of 1.1 × 10⁷. This strategy offers a blueprint for designing electrodes with better electronic access to active sites, boosting performance in electrically driven processes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62501-7
spellingShingle Yanpei Song
Linxiao Hou
Pui Ching Lan
Zhiwei Xing
Qi Sun
Jia Lv
Jingwei Li
Daliang Zhang
Zhifeng Dai
Thamraa AlShahrani
Shengqian Ma
Creating electrochemical accessibility in covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction via electrodeposition
Nature Communications
title Creating electrochemical accessibility in covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction via electrodeposition
title_full Creating electrochemical accessibility in covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction via electrodeposition
title_fullStr Creating electrochemical accessibility in covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction via electrodeposition
title_full_unstemmed Creating electrochemical accessibility in covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction via electrodeposition
title_short Creating electrochemical accessibility in covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction via electrodeposition
title_sort creating electrochemical accessibility in covalent organic frameworks for uranium extraction via electrodeposition
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62501-7
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