Chinese team extracts uranium from seawater at 8 times the US target rate
Chinese researchers have found a way to extract uranium from seawater at several times the target rate set by the US Department of Energy, putting China at the forefront of a global quest to tap into a vast source of nuclear fuel. The team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao did this using a material they developed called PhosCage – a sponge-like molecular structure filled with…
Chinese scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao have developed a method to extract uranium from seawater eight times faster than the target set by the US Department of Energy. They achieved this using a substance called PhosCage, a sponge-like molecular structure that traps uranium through its phosphate groups.
The research team managed to recover 50.4 milligrams of uranium per gram of PhosCage from natural seawater samples, surpassing the US target of 6 milligrams per gram. They further transformed PhosCage into millimeter-sized beads, making it easier to deploy and retrieve in the open ocean. These beads captured 22.55 milligrams of uranium per gram, maintaining efficiency through seven cycles of reuse.
The researchers note that this breakthrough could potentially revolutionize uranium extraction from seawater, addressing China's heavy reliance on imports due to low domestic production and high global demand.
Written by urgent.news from Reuters Business via SCMP's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
