The uranium recovery from high concentration fluorine-containing uranium wastewater is a desired research target in the field of environmental radiochemistry but is very challenging due to the formation of stable uranium fluoride complexes that are quite difficult to extract. By employing surface defect engineering and interfacial heterostructure design, we present here the rational design of an efficient photocatalyst (Ag/WO_3–x) for U(VI) uptake from fluorine-containing uranium wastewater without any sacrificial agents. The defect-rich surface of Ag/WO_3–x facilitates confined adsorption of uranium, while the introduction of Ag nanoparticles enables both efficient electron–hole separation and a plasmon effect upon light irradiation. Ag/WO_3–x shows high U(VI) removal efficiency of 96.3% at 8 mg/L U(VI) within 60 min. Notably, even when the ratio of F^– to U(VI) is as high as 20:1, the removal efficiency of U(VI) by Ag/WO_3–x reaches up to 95%. Additionally, the maximum capture capacity of U(VI) on Ag/WO_3–x reaches 676.8 mg/g at 200 mg/L of U(VI) within 60 min, which is superior to ever-reported photocatalysts in fluorine-containing uranium wastewater. This work provides an effective way for the uranium capture from fluorine-containing wastewater through the synergy of plasmon effect and defect engineering.

中文翻译：

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Ag/WO3–x 对具有表面缺陷和异质结构的含氟废水进行创纪录的高铀光辅助捕获性能


从高浓度含氟铀废水中回收铀是环境放射化学领域的理想研究目标，但由于会形成难以提取的稳定氟化铀络合物，因此非常具有挑战性。通过采用表面缺陷工程和界面异质结构设计，我们在这里提出了一种高效的光催化剂 （Ag/WO _3-x） 的合理设计，用于在没有任何牺牲剂的情况下从含氟铀废水中吸收 U（VI）。Ag/WO _3-x 的富含缺陷的表面有助于铀的有限吸附，而 Ag 纳米颗粒的引入可实现高效的电子-空穴分离和光照射下的等离激元效应。Ag/WO_3–x 在 60 分钟内对 8 mg/L U（VI） 的去除效率高达 96.3%。值得注意的是，即使 F^– 与 U（VI） 的比例高达 20：1，Ag/WO_3–x 对 U（VI） 的去除效率也高达 95%。此外，在 60 分钟内，在 200 mg/L U（VI） 中，U（VI） 对 Ag/WO _3-x 的最大捕获能力达到 676.8 mg/g，优于含氟铀废水中不断报道的光催化剂。这项工作通过等离激元效应和缺陷工程的协同作用，为从含氟废水中捕集铀提供了一种有效的途径。