With the development of nuclear technology, the radioactive nuclide pollution such as uranium pollution is threating the human health. Uranium is the major constituent of nuclear fuel and the key nuclide in spent fuel reprocessing. Carbon-based nanomaterials are promising for uranium removal due to their large specific surface area, excellent acid stability, higher radiation and thermal resistance. In this review, carbon-based nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene and other carbon materials used as adsorbents for uranium removal have been summarized. The relevant synthetic methods, removal performance and adsorption mechanism are also discussed. And the adsorption performance of carbon-based materials can be improved by surface oxidization and physical or chemical modifications such as coating, grafting functional groups or molecules. However, the practical application of carbon-based nanomaterials has been limited because of their high cost and complicated synthesis process. Therefore, how to develop a low-cost, mature process technology and application system will be an important research direction in the future.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 The species of carbon-based nanomaterials
2.1 Carbon nanotubes
2.2 Graphene
2.3 Other carbon-based nanomaterials
3 Adsorption mechanism and influencing factors
4 Conclusion and outlook