Acid- and radiation‑resistant silica‑based anion exchange resin enables efficient treatment of fluoride-containing uranium wastewater.

The manufacturing of nuclear fuel elements inevitably generates large volumes of fluoride-containing uranium wastewater, in which fluoride ions strongly complex with uranyl ions to form highly stable fluoride-uranium complexes, rendering treatment a significant challenge. In this study, a silica-based anion exchange resin (denoted as SiO2-P-M) is developed by grafting quaternary ammonium groups into porous SiO2 for the efficient treatment of such challenging wastewater. The resin achieves 99.6% purification of fluoride-containing uranium wastewater within 120 min, and its removal activity remains unaffected by common coexisting ions. The maximum uranium adsorption capacity of SiO2-P-M reaches 312.8 mg/g, substantially outperforming eight commercial anion exchange resins and 23 recently reported adsorbents. Notably, after combined exposure to 9 M HNO3 and 200 kGy β‑ray irradiation, SiO2-P-M retains its structural integrity and maintains a U(VI) removal efficiency of 94.3%. Phytotoxicity tests further confirm that SiO2-P-M treatment greatly reduces the toxicity of fluoride‑containing uranium wastewater to mung bean germination and growth. Collectively, these results position SiO2-P-M as a highly promising adsorbent for the safe and efficient treatment of extreme-condition nuclear wastewater.