Mechanical shrinkage force induced assembly of functionalized metal-organic framework self-standing fibers for efficient uranium extraction

Uranium extraction is a promising technology for addressing global energy shortages and environmental challenges. However, the design and preparation of adsorbents with high performance is a bottleneck. In this study, a self-standing nanofiber network with phosphorylated ZIF-8 dispersion (PA/ZIF-8-CNC) is fabricated based on a mechanical shrinkage force induction strategy, which realizes synergistic structural and microenvironment regulation to achieve uranium adsorption. The assembled one-dimensional self-standing nanofibers could effectively expose more adsorption sites and offer structural integrity, thus enhancing both adsorption capacity and practical operability. Additionally, phytic acid (PA) modification can create the phosphoric acid-rich hydrophilic microenvironment, provide abundant specific sites and enhance mass transfer, thereby improving selectivity and adsorption kinetics. Consequently, the prepared PA/ZIF-8-CNC shows a high uranium adsorption capacity of 769.9 mg/g in 1 h and an antibacterial efficiency close to 100 %. Notably, the material demonstrates high selectivity, achieving an 88 % uranium removal rate in actual leaching tailings wastewater. This work proposes that the collaborative regulation of structure and microenvironment can be extended to the design of other materials to improve uranium separation performance.