Electrochemical upcycling of uranyl from radioactive organic wastewater with a self-standing covalent-organic framework electrode

Huihui Jin, Yezi Hu, Zewen Shen, Hao Pan, Hongliang Bao, Lisha Yin, Guixia Zhao (), Zhuoyu Ji (), Xiangke Wang () and Xiubing Huang ()
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Huihui Jin: North China Electric Power University
Yezi Hu: North China Electric Power University
Zewen Shen: North China Electric Power University
Hao Pan: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Hongliang Bao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Lisha Yin: Nanjing Tech University (Nanjing Tech)
Guixia Zhao: North China Electric Power University
Zhuoyu Ji: North China Electric Power University
Xiangke Wang: North China Electric Power University
Xiubing Huang: University of Science and Technology Beijing

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Efficient upcycling of uranyl from uranyl–containing radioactive organic wastewater is of utmost importance for the sustainable development of nuclear energy. In this work, an indirect electrochemical method to upcycle uranyl from radioactive organic wastewater is proposed. A cost-efficient self-standing polyarylether-based covalent organic framework electrode (PAE-COF-AO@CC) not only acts as an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production, but also provides chelating sites for uranyl ions and nucleation center for the following growth of studtite originating from the reaction between H2O2 and chelated uranyl. It’s clarified that the up-take studtite on PAE-COF-AO@CC electrode could transform to high-pure U3O8 after calcinating the permanently used PAE-COF-AO@CC electrode. The ultra-long lifespan of longer than 450 h and the excellent uranyl capacity of 9238.9 mg/g from the continuous accumulation of studtite make the self-standing PAE-COF-AO@CC electrode as promising materials for the uranyl resource upcycling from the complicated organic waste water matrix.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58747-w

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