Electrochemically mediated Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox-coupled uranium extraction can efficiently reduce the cell voltage of electrochemical uranium extraction (EUE). How to regulate the surface structure to enhance the uranium acyl ion adsorption capacity and strengthen the Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox cycle process is crucial for EUE. In this work, we developed surface sulfated nanoreduced iron (S-NRI) for EUE and exhibited improved properties for EUE at an ultralow cell voltage (-0.1 V). Compared with a nanoreduced iron (NRI) adsorbent, S-NRI displayed faster electrochemical extraction kinetics properties and higher extraction efficiency and capacity for uranium. In a more complex seawater electrolyte containing uranyl ion concentration ranging from 1 to 20 ppm, the removal efficiency could reach almost ∼100% after EUE for 24 h. At a higher 50 ppm uranium acyl ion concentration in a seawater electrolyte, S-NRI exhibited higher extraction capacity (755.03 mg/g), which is better than 528.53 mg/g of NRI at a cell voltage of -0.1 V. Outstanding EUE property could be attributed to the fact that sulfate species (M-SO42-) on the S-NRI surface not only enhanced selective adsorption of uranyl ions but also strengthened the Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox cycle, which accelerated electron transfer between Fe(II) and U(VI), promoted the regeneration of Fe(II) active sites, and finally enhanced the EUE property.
Keywords: electrochemical uranium extraction; mechanism; nanoreduced Iron; seawater; strengthening Fe(II)/Fe(III) cycling; surface sulfation.