DNA nano-pocket for ultra-selective uranyl extraction from seawater

Abstract

Extraction of uranium from seawater is critical for the sustainable development of nuclear energy. However, the currently available uranium adsorbents are hampered by co-existing metal ion interference. DNAzymes exhibit high selectivity to specific metal ions, yet there is no DNA-based adsorbent for extraction of soluble minerals from seawater. Herein, the uranyl-binding DNA strand from the DNAzyme is polymerized into DNA-based uranium extraction hydrogel (DNA-UEH) that exhibits a high uranium adsorption capacity of 6.06 mg g−1 with 18.95 times high selectivity for uranium against vanadium in natural seawater. The uranium is found to be bound by oxygen atoms from the phosphate groups and the carbonyl groups, which formed the specific nano-pocket that empowers DNA-UEH with high selectivity and high binding affinity. This study both provides an adsorbent for uranium extraction from seawater and broadens the application of DNA for being used in recovery of high-value soluble minerals from seawater.

UiO-66-NH-(AO) MOFs with a New Ligand BDC-NH-(CN) for Efficient Extraction of Uranium from Seawater

“…When the pH value was higher than 6, the removal ratio decreased but was still more than 80%. This feature indicated the potential of UiO-66-NH-(AO) for U adsorption from seawater (pH = 8.3) …”

“…This feature indicated the potential of UiO-66-NH-(AO) for U adsorption from seawater (pH = 8.3). 38 Adsorption Kinetics and Adsorption Isotherms. As mentioned above, pH = 6 was chosen for the tests of adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherms.…”

An amyloid-like proteinaceous adsorbent for uranium extraction from aqueous medium

“…Practically, there are a large number of competing metal ions in natural seawater and wastewater interfering with the separation and recovery of uranium ions by adsorbents; many efforts have been made to improve the uranium ion adsorption selectivity. [29][30][31][32][33][34] In order to evaluate the selectivity of the PTL-b-CD aggregates, a solution containing various metal ions (e.g., UO 2 2+ , VO 2+ , Cr 3+ , Fe 3+ , Mn 2+ , Ni 2+ , Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ , Co 2+ , Mg 2+ , As 3+ , K + , Ca 2+ , and Na + ) with a concentration of 1 ppm each was used. The adsorption ratio of uranium ions (95.05%) by the PTL-b-CD aggregates was signicantly higher than that of other elements, especially the vanadium ion (1.18%) which is the main competitive metal ion of the uranium ion in natural seawater (Fig.…”

“…[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] Even though some biomacromolecules such as DNA, super uranyl-binding proteins (SUPs), and peptides have been exploited to prepare high performance uranium ion adsorbents, their biodegradability is rarely mentioned; moreover, the acquisition of these raw materials is complicated and costly, and chemical crosslinking or special processing techniques must be undertaken, which impede their large-scale application. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] Therefore, it is highly desirable to develop a low-cost, easily fabricated, biodegradable and eco-friendly adsorbent to efficiently extract uranium ions from aqueous medium.…”

Nanospace Decoration with Uranyl-Specific “Hooks” for Selective Uranium Extraction from Seawater with Ultrahigh Enrichment Index

“…Traditionally, the optimization of the selectivity of adsorbents has been mostly accomplished by designing new chelating sites, which are often accompanied by cumbersome synthetic procedures that hinder their practical application. − The selective recognition and sequestration of specific ions occur efficiently in nature; this regulates the extreme selectivity for specific ions by manipulating the cooperation of binding sites. Therefore, approaches involving biomimetic designs have offered inspiration for designing sophisticated artificial materials. − Inspired by the preorganization of binding sites employed by nature, we previously demonstrated that the affinity of the chelating group in adsorbents toward uranium could be significantly improved by engineering their spatial distribution to facilitate cooperative binding . Intrigued by this study, we sought to advance this strategy by creating uranyl-specific ligand “hooks” via precisely manipulating the relative distances and angles of chelators at the molecular level to alter the binding mode for enhanced metal selectivity.…”