Using nanofiltration membrane technology and electrochemical adsorption to remove uranium from groundwater in the Navajo Nation.

The research question that I approached is can an off off-grid water treatment technology remove uranium from contaminated ground water in Navajo Nation? First, I identified locations of water contamination in Navajo and studied hydrologic environmental transport of uranium. Second, I shown nanofiltration to remove 87-99.9% of uranium. Uranium rejection rates were found to be dependent to the permeate flow, ionic strength, and pH of solution. Third, to deal with brine created, I performed electrochemical adsorption of uranium to graphene. The adsorption capacity was found to be 250 m.g. of uranium per sq. m. surface area of graphene. Future work will look at how ionic concentrations affect the uranium adsorption capacity of graphene. My conclusion is that off-grid uranium groundwater removal in the Navajo Nation is possible.