Scientists have created a water filter from graphene that can trap uranium particles

MIT Science Team Demonstrates Oxide Foam Filter graphene, which turned out to be able to even retain uranium and make previously radioactive water suitable for drinking.

Graphene and its next unique properties

Sometimes there is a feeling that there are practically no impossible properties for graphene. And scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have once again confirmed this assumption. After all, they managed to find another application for this "wonderful" material.

So engineers created a reusable water filter from graphene oxide foam that functions like a magnet for a material like uranium.

Uranium can end up in water from natural sediments contained in rocks, or, much more sadly, through "garbage" left over from nuclear power plants. Once in the water, uranium is invisible to the naked eye and can cause serious damage to health even at low doses.

Laboratory tests have shown that graphene oxide foam washes uranium out of water so well that ERA certified, it becomes usable literally a few hours after the start cleaning.

And a whole series of experiments have shown that this new filter is suitable for repeated use without significantly reducing efficiency.

How a graphene filter works

So, in order for the filter to start cleaning contaminated water, an electric current is passed through the material. This triggers the process of splitting water near the graphene oxide foam, which leads to the release of hydrogen and, thus, the pH in this area rises.

This triggers chemical processes that attract uranium ions to the area of ​​the foam, and as experiments have shown, uranium undergoes a crystallization process before that into an unknown form of uranium hydroxide.

So even a small volume of graphene foam was able to capture a significant amount of uranium. And as soon as a sufficient amount of it (uranium) was collected, then scientists found that the foam can be easily cleaned. To do this, you just need to change the polarity of the electric charge, and the accumulated uranium simply slides off the foam. And that's all, the filter is again ready to work to purify contaminated water.

Thus, numerous experiments have demonstrated that a fixed volume of foam was able to trap uranium in four times its own weight, and it was possible to obtain an extraction capacity of 4000 mg per one gram. And this is much better than all other methods of cleansing.

And practical experiments have shown that a graphene oxide foam filter is capable of performing seven cleaning cycles without compromising efficiency.

Scientists argue that the technology itself is quite inexpensive and can well be added at various stages of the water infrastructure. In addition, engineers are confident that the filter can be upgraded to accommodate other heavy materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium.

The scientists shared the results of the work done on the pages of the Advanced Materials portal.

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