Anti-biological contamination strategies for enhanced uranium extraction from seawater

Uranium extraction from seawater has been considered as one of the seven chemical separation processes that could change the world. Nevertheless, the marine biological pollution could lead to severely adverse effects on the uranium extraction materials, affecting their uranium adsorption performance and sustainability, whilst increasing the cost of seawater uranium extraction significantly. Hence, it is of critical importance to develop high-efficient, anti-biofouling strategies for adsorbents to reinforce uranium extraction from seawater. In the current review, the burgeoning anti-biofouling materials for enhanced uranium extraction were classified into four categories: e.g., the inorganic metal modified materials, the antimicrobial polymer materials, the biomass antibacterial materials, and the porous frame antibacterial materials, according to the characteristics of the materials and their anti-biofouling mechanisms. Merits and demerits of those emerging materials, their anti-biofouling performances and the resulting uranium adsorption capacity were compared and discussed. The specific anti-biological contamination strategies and their underlying mechanisms were subsequently classified, summarized and highlighted. An assessment of the findings, challenges and knowledge gaps are presented, while the directions for future study are also suggested, which would help accelerate the sustainability of uranium extraction from seawater.