Efficient and Rapid Adsorption of Thorium by Sp2c-Cof with One-Dimensional Regular Macroporous Channels

Abstract

Thorium, as a potential nuclear fuel for the next generation of thorium-based molten salt reactors, holds significant environmental and economic promise compared to current uranium-based atomic reactors. However, a large amount of thorium-containing wastewater is generated during the operation of thorium-based reactors. Therefore, removing Th (IV) from wastewater is a critical step in advancing clean energy, mitigating radioactive contamination, and promoting sustainable nuclear fuel practices. In this research, we successfully synthesized an sp2c-COF (TPA-TMT COF), which exhibits ultrafast adsorption kinetics (~3 min), high adsorption capacity (377.35mg g-1), and excellent selectivity (Kd=4.82×103 mL g-1) for thorium ions due to its well-organized one-dimensional pore channels and abundant nitrogen-containing adsorption sites. These results indicate that TPA-TMT COF is a promising functional adsorbent for the efficient recovery of thorium ions from thorium-containing wastewater.

Keywords: sp2c-COF, Thorium, Ultrafast adsorption kinetics, Excellent selectivity