Constructing an Ion Pathway for Uranium Extraction from Seawater

Uranium extraction from seawater is a major barrier for the development of nuclear power to cope with the energy and climate-change crises. Here, we report the integration of conductive chains into porous adsorbents, which provide the expended electric field to cover the micrometer-sized adsorbent particles under alternating currents. On the basis of the superiority (large accessible area and tailorable adsorption site) of porous adsorbent for chemical adsorption, the live media promote the migration and enrichment of uranyl ions into the porous architecture. The superstructure shows 2–3 orders of magnitude faster kinetics than the polymer adsorbents under physical diffusion. Such an adsorbent enables a strong affinity that captures 99.1% of uranium in 120 min (from ∼4.4 to ∼0.04 ppb). It achieves the uranium extraction standard (6.0 mg g−1) in ∼16 days and captures 13.0 mg g−1 of uranium in 56 days from natural seawater.