Uran fra havvand et skridt tættere på at blive en levedygtig energikilde

While the history behind nuclear energi utilizing fuel sources like Uranium may be marred with concerning events, the narrative behind this potentially climate-friendly power source is rapidly changing.  Modern reactors are safer than ever, and with the increased condemnation of fossil fuels, now is a pivotal time for a push forward with nuclear solutions.

“Nuklear energi er en lavkulstof energikilde, der kan erstatte fossile brændstoffer, og den giver en vigtig garanti for den grønne udvikling af økonomi og miljø.”

With that in mind, researchers have recently developed a new solution that will potentially allow for Uranium to be harvested from seawater in a bæredygtig fashion.

Gennembruddet

The solution, which involves the extraction of uranium ions through an electrochemical reaction, was detailed in a paper titled ‘Selvstående Porøse Aromatiske Rammeelektroder til Effektiv Elektrokemisk Uranudvinding‘.  Udgivet den in ACS Central Science, this paper saw researchers identify and set out to solve the following problem.

With uranium reserves in seawater “…estimated to be 4.5 billion tons, nearly 1000 times larger than terrestrial uranium reserves”, what can be done to access this vast source of latent energy?

Although we won’t dive into the more technical details of the process outlined in its paper, the solution at which the team arrived saw the creation of a form of treated carbon fiber fabric with enough surface area to capture uranium ions that can then be harvested through an electrochemical reaction.

Overall, the team believes its work has “…provided an effective strategy for the uranium extraction from seawater through the electrochemical process.”

Forståelse af uran