Oceanic uranium represents a vast fuel resource that could ensure the long-term sustainability of nuclear power. A new study seeks to harness that potential by developing a bioinspired adsorbent membrane capable of capturing uranium from seawater.
References
Energy, Electricity and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2050: 2020 Edition (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2020).
Uranium 2020 Resources, Production, and Demand (Nuclear Energy Agency and International Atomic Energy Agency, 2020).
Tsouris, C. Nat. Energy 2, 17022 (2017).
Dungan, K., Butler, G., Livens, F. R. & Warren, L. M. Prog. Nucl. Energy 99, 81–85 (2017).
Abney, C. W., Mayes, R. T., Saito, T. & Dai, S. Chem. Rev. 117, 13935–14013 (2017).
Ladshaw, A. P., Wiechert, A. I., Das, S., Yiacoumi, S. & Tsouris, C. Materials 10, 1268–1289 (2017).
Kim, J. et al. Sep. Sci. Technol. 48, 367–387 (2013).
Wiechert, A. I. et al. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 57, 17237–17244 (2018).
Dai, S. Chem 7, 537–539 (2021).
Yang, L. et al. Nat. Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00792-6 (2021).
Shi, S. et al. Nano Energy 71, 104629 (2020).
Pan, H.-B. et al. Dalton Trans. 49, 2803–2810 (2020).
Gao, J. et al. Chem. Commun. 56, 3935–3938 (2020).
Gill, G. A. et al. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 55, 4264–4277 (2016).
Sun, Y. et al. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 13, 21272–21285 (2021).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wiechert, A.I., Yiacoumi, S. & Tsouris, C. The ocean’s nuclear energy reserve. Nat Sustain 5, 13–14 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00808-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00808-1
- Springer Nature Limited