Have you ever wondered how we could get more energy to power our cities and gadgets? 🌆🔋 Well, Chinese scientists have invented a special membrane that can help extract uranium from seawater! 🌊⚛️
What is Uranium?
Uranium is a metal used to produce nuclear energy, which is a powerful source of electricity. But uranium isn’t easy to find because there’s not a lot of it on land. However, the oceans hold a lot of uranium, but in very tiny amounts.
The Challenge
Getting uranium from seawater has been tricky because it’s hard to separate the uranium from all the other stuff in the water. But now, scientists from Lanzhou University have created a new membrane that can do just that!
What’s a Membrane?
A membrane is like a super-thin filter that lets some things through while keeping others out. Imagine a colander you use to drain pasta, but on a microscopic level!
How Did They Do It?
The researchers combined a special material called graphene oxide with tiny bacteria to make the membrane stronger and more precise. Graphene oxide is an amazing material that’s only as thick as a single atom!
Why Is This Important?
This new membrane is not only 12 times stronger than older ones but also really good at capturing uranium from seawater. This means we could have a new way to get more uranium for energy without digging up the earth!
Helping the Planet
This invention could also help clean water, recycle waste, and solve big problems like energy shortages and pollution. Isn’t science awesome? 🌟
Reference(s):
Chinese researchers invent biomimetic membrane to extract uranium
cgtn.com
