Nuclear fission produces 400 GWe which represents 11% of the global electricity output. Uranium is the essential element as both fission fuel and radioactive waste. Therefore, the recovery of uranium is of great importance. Here, an in situ electrolytic deposition method to extract uranium from aqueous solution is reported. A functionalized reduced graphene oxide foam (3D-FrGOF) is used as the working electrode, which acts as both a hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst and a uranium deposition substrate. The specific electrolytic deposition capacity for U(VI) ions with the 3D-FrGOF is 4560 mg g⁻¹ without reaching saturation, and the Coulombic efficiency can reach 54%. Moreover, reduction of the uranium concentration in spiked seawater from 3 ppm to 19.9 ppb is achieved, which is lower than the US Environmental Protection Agency uranium limits for drinking water (30 ppb). Furthermore, the collection electrode can be efficiently regenerated and recycled at least nine times without much efficiency fading, by ejecting into 2000 ppm concentrated uranium solution in a second bath with reverse voltage bias. All these findings open new opportunities in using free-standing 3D-FrGOF electrode as an advanced separation technique for water treatment.

中文翻译：

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铀原位电解沉积与可重复使用的功能石墨烯泡沫电极

核裂变产生 400 GWe，占全球电力输出的 11%。铀是裂变燃料和放射性废物的基本元素。因此，铀的回收具有重要意义。在这里，报道了一种从水溶液中提取铀的原位电解沉积方法。功能化还原氧化石墨烯泡沫 (3D-FrGOF) 用作工作电极，它既充当析氢反应催化剂又充当铀沉积基材。U(VI) 离子与 3D-FrGOF 的比电解沉积容量为 4560 mg g ^-1不达到饱和，库仑效率可达54%。此外，加标海水中的铀浓度从 3 ppm 降低到 19.9 ppb，低于美国环境保护署对饮用水的铀限制 (30 ppb)。此外，通过在具有反向偏压的第二个浴槽中喷射到 2000 ppm 的浓缩铀溶液中，收集电极可以有效地再生和循环至少 9 次而不会出现太多的效率衰减。所有这些发现为使用独立式 3D-FrGOF 电极作为水处理的先进分离技术开辟了新的机会。