SPECIAL REPORT | NOVEL URANIUM SOURCES
Paving the way for future uranium
A novel technology, which could potentially extract uranium from seawater on a
commercial basis, may transform the uranium industry within the next five years. By: Chris Lewis
THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT it. Uranium prices are steadily soaring, and there aren’t any signs that they’ll be declining anytime soon. With this in mind, experts are seeking new methods to extract this highly valuable metal. One approach that is showing considerable promise is based on the extraction of low concentrations of uranium from seawater. Although uranium has been extracted from seawater before, Dr. Shengqian Ma, the Robert A. Welch chair of the University of North Texas’s Department of Chemistry, had a concept unlike any other, an innovative – arguably transformative – idea. In 2020 he began to conduct research, wondering if
conductive polymer molecules could be introduced at the molecular level of a covalent organic framework (COF). To determine if his idea was feasible, he worked alongside a variety of other professors and researchers, who are either based at the University of North Texas or other institutions. For instance, he steadily spoke to Dr. Qi Sun, professor, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, who proposed the original concept. After several months of research, they developed an
advanced, electrodeposition-based uranium extraction technology. Differing fundamentally from conventional
passive adsorption, the technology is an amidoxime- functionalised, fully π-conjugated sp2
c-COF-AO. This is a type of porous crystalline polymer material,
specifically the COF that Dr. Ma first brainstormed in 2020. Since its 1D pores are infiltrated with the conductive polymer PEDOT, it has been able to yield PEDOT@sp2 AO, too. Simply put, the sp2
tunnel-like pores, which are infused with a conductive polymer (PEDOT). From there, a hybrid material (the PEDOT@sp2
c-COF- c-COF-AO contains microscopic, c-COF-AO) has been created, which can conduct
electricity more efficiently, via its porous network. “We created molecule-level electrical junctions that
directly wire amidoxime chelators into the electron- conducting network, something unattainable with conventional COFs or physical polymer blends,” Dr. Ma said. “This unprecedented design enables the material to function as a true high-surface-area electrode for uranium electrodeposition.” As a result, the team’s uranium extraction technology
can achieve rapid electron and ion transfer, as well as impressive uranium uptake from seawater. In doing so, it has established a possible alternative route to commercial uranium recovery.
Above: Although uranium concentration in seawater in only 3.3 parts per billion, the world’s oceans hold an estimated 4 billion tonnes of uranium Source: NASA
30 | November 2025 |
www.neimagazine.com
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