Chinese Scientists Create Technology to Extract Uranium from Seawater: 4.5 Billion Tons Are in the Oceans!

Written by Rafaela Fabris

Published on 18/12/2024 at 02:38

A tecnologia chinesa permite extrair até 8,23 mg de urânio da água do mar por grama de material absorvente em testes simulados. Estima-se que os oceanos contenham 4,5 bilhões de toneladas de urânio, 1.000 vezes mais do que as reservas terrestres.

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New Technique Uses Wax To Create Absorbent Spheres Capable Of Extracting Up To 8.23 Mg Of Uranium From Seawater Per Gram Of Material, Revealing The Potential To Explore 1,000 Times More Uranium In Oceans Than On Land.

Have you ever imagined using candle wax to revolutionize the nuclear energy sector? Well, that’s exactly what Chinese scientists did! They developed an innovative technology capable of extracting uranium directly from seawater. This advancement could change the way the world powers its nuclear plants and contributes to the global energy transition.

Why Is Ocean Uranium So Important?

The oceans hold a valuable secret: huge reserves of uranium, estimated at 4.5 billion tons. To give you an idea, that’s a thousand times more than terrestrial reserves, which could be depleted in just over a century.

While terrestrial uranium reserves are limited and of variable quality, the oceans offer a practically inexhaustible source. However, the concentration of uranium in seawater is extremely low, making its extraction a technical and economic challenge.

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The Innovation: Absorbent Spheres Of Uranium Made With Wax

In practice, Chinese scientists use hydrogel particles created with candle wax, encapsulated in polymeric materials, which capture the dispersed uranium ions in seawater. These absorbent spheres are submerged in the ocean, where they bind to uranium and, after extraction, can be reused with high efficiency.

The great insight of the researchers was to transform candle wax into porous hydrogel particles, which are capable of capturing uranium ions from seawater. It seems like magic, but it’s pure science!

The process begins with mixing melted wax and a polymer called polyamidoxime, which has a high affinity for metals. After cooling, the wax is extracted, leaving behind porous particles with a Swiss cheese-like structure.

These particles are encapsulated in a compound of alginate and polyacrylic acid, forming small spheres with a diameter of 3 mm. These spheres have high absorption capacity, selectivity, and can be reused, making the process practical and sustainable.

Promising Results Of The New Technology

The tests showed that the technology is efficient and has great potential for practical applications. The numbers are impressive and show that we are on the right path to explore this energy source.

In real seawater, the spheres extracted 4.79 mg of uranium per gram in 15 days. In simulated water, that number rose to 8.23 mg per gram. This efficiency is a milestone in research.

Besides being effective, the spheres are reusable, with only 31.2% loss in capacity after five consecutive uses. This is essential to keep costs low and increase the commercial viability of the technology.

The Impact Of The Discovery On The Future Of Nuclear Energy

The Chinese innovation could be a game changer for the nuclear energy sector. Access to uranium from the oceans could transform the global energy matrix and reduce dependence on imports.

With the growing demand for clean energy sources, uranium extracted from the oceans emerges as a viable alternative to power nuclear reactors and reduce carbon emissions.

Countries like China, which rely on imports due to the low quality of their uranium ore, could benefit immensely from this technology, increasing their energy autonomy.

The discovery by the Chinese scientists is a promising step toward a sustainable energy future. Using wax to create hydrogel particles may seem simple, but the science behind it has a massive impact.

Chinese Scientists Create Technology to Extract Uranium from Seawater: 4.5 Billion Tons Are in the Oceans!

New Technique Uses Wax To Create Absorbent Spheres Capable Of Extracting Up To 8.23 Mg Of Uranium From Seawater Per Gram Of Material, Revealing The Potential To Explore 1,000 Times More Uranium In Oceans Than On Land.

Why Is Ocean Uranium So Important?

The Innovation: Absorbent Spheres Of Uranium Made With Wax

Promising Results Of The New Technology

The Impact Of The Discovery On The Future Of Nuclear Energy

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Chinese Scientists Create Technology to Extract Uranium from Seawater: 4.5 Billion Tons Are in the Oceans!

New Technique Uses Wax To Create Absorbent Spheres Capable Of Extracting Up To 8.23 Mg Of Uranium From Seawater Per Gram Of Material, Revealing The Potential To Explore 1,000 Times More Uranium In Oceans Than On Land.

Why Is Ocean Uranium So Important?

The Innovation: Absorbent Spheres Of Uranium Made With Wax

Promising Results Of The New Technology

The Impact Of The Discovery On The Future Of Nuclear Energy

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Egypt wants to draw 10 million cubic meters of water from the Nile per day into the desert, irrigate a new agricultural frontier, and build a city where there is currently only sand.

Ethiopia has banned gasoline and diesel cars, placed over a hundred silent electric buses on the streets of Addis Ababa, and now aims for half a million electric vehicles by 2030, all powered by Africa’s largest dam and a courage that few countries have shown.

Norway is drilling 27 kilometers of rock 392 meters below the bottom of a fjord to build the world’s largest and deepest underwater road tunnel — when completed, a 21-hour journey will be reduced to 10.

An astronaut spent 340 days in space while his twin brother stayed on Earth, and NASA found a “rejuvenating” effect, genes, microbiome, cognition, and immune system that revealed the biological cost of living outside the planet.

After 14 years of construction and a diplomatic crisis that nearly led to a military confrontation over control of the Nile, Ethiopia inaugurated the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa — the dam is 170 meters high, holds 74 billion cubic meters of water, and generates 5,150 megawatts.

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