Glyphosine-Functionalized MIL-101(Cr)–NH2 for ultrafast uranium extraction from seawater

Advanced metal–organic framework (MOF)-based adsorbents offer significant promise for the rapid and efficient extraction of uranium from seawater. MIL-101(Cr), known for its large surface area, tunable porosity, and high stability, has attracted significant attention as a promising material for this purpose. In this work, four MIL-101(Cr)-based adsorbents were synthesized and applied to the adsorption of U(VI). Among them, MIL-101-BPMG, functionalized with glyphosine via covalent grafting, exhibited superior performance. Leveraging specific chelation and electrostatic interactions, MIL-101-BPMG achieved a remarkable U(VI) adsorption capacity of 719.6 mg/g and removed 94 % of U(VI) within 3 min, markedly outperforming comparable materials. It also demonstrated excellent ion selectivity, with a U/V separation factor of 8.1, and maintained 87.2 % removal efficiency after six adsorption–desorption cycles. Moreover, U(VI) removal efficiencies remained as high as 68.4 % and 49.35 % under spiked simulated and natural seawater conditions, respectively. These findings highlight MIL-101-BPMG as a promising candidate for practical seawater uranium extraction, combining structural stability, high capacity, rapid kinetics, strong selectivity, and good reusability.