Advanced Carbon-based Electrodes for Electrochemical Uranium Removal from Aqueous Solutions: Design, Functionalization, and Performance Insights
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15377/2410-3624.2025.12.6Keywords:
Electrosorption, Nanostructured carbons, Carbon-based electrodes, Uranium decontamination, Functionalization and doping, Electrochemical uranium removalAbstract
The removal of uranium from aqueous solutions remains a significant global challenge, and electrochemical technologies represent a potentially efficient and controllable approach for this application. Carbon-based materials are key to the success of these technologies, however, the performance of conventional carbons is limited by low capacity and poor selectivity. This review systematically evaluates recent advances in the design and application of advanced carbon-based electrodes tuned for enhanced uranium uptake in a systematic way. This review covers nanostructured carbons (graphene, carbon nanotubes) for electrosorption enhancement, functionalization and doping for selective electroreduction, and synergistic effects in composites. Analysis of structure-performance relationships reveals design principles for efficient electrodes. Finally, this review summarizes the remaining challenges of selectivity, stability and scalability in electrochemical decontamination, and offer a forward-looking perspective towards future research – including computational design and operando characterization – needed to bridge the gap between laboratory-scale findings and sustainable, large-scale decontamination systems.
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