Recent Progress of Uranium Extraction and its Catalytic Applications

Abstract

Fast development of nuclear power plants requires sustainable support of uranium for nuclear fuel. Uranium is the most critical radionuclide to prepare nuclear fuel. However, the extraction of low concentration of uranium in uranium ore or complex systems needs highly efficient selective binding of uranium in the presence of other competing metal ions. The excellent oxidative capacity of excited *UO₂²⁺ active species makes uranyl-based materials high photocatalytic performance in phototransformation of organic chemicals into high valuable products under visible light irradiation. In this mini review, the selective preconcentration of uranium through photocatalytic and electrocatalytic strategies was mainly described. The application of uranyl-based materials in photocatalytic conversion and degradation of organic pollutants was summarized. This review reports the utilization of uranium from its first step (i.e., extraction of uranium for nuclear fuel supply) to its last additional application (i.e., uranyl-based materials as photocatalysts in transformation and conversion of organic pollutants for environmental pollution treatment) from the viewpoint of “turning uranium wastes into treasure, from waste recycling to reutilization.” In the end of this review, the challenges and perspectives of uranium separation and catalytic properties were described.

Keywords

Uranium / High selective extraction / Photocatalytic property / Conversion / Transformation

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