Researchers at Rice University in US and Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia determined that microscopic, atom-thick flakes of graphene oxide bind quickly to natural and human-made radionuclides and condense them into solids.
The flakes are soluble in liquids and easily produced in bulk.
The collaborative effort by James Tour and Stepan Kalmykov could be a boon in the cleanup of contaminated sites like the Fukushima nuclear plants damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, researchers hope.
It could also cut the cost of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") for oil and gas recovery and help reboot American mining of rare earth metals, Tour said.
Graphene oxide's large surface area defines its capacity to adsorb toxins, Kalmykov said.
"So the high retention properties are not surprising to us. What is astonishing is the very fast kinetics of sorption, which is key," Kalmykov said in a statement.
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Researchers tested graphene oxide synthesised at Rice with simulated nuclear wastes containing uranium, plutonium and substances like sodium and calcium that could negatively affect their adsorption.
Even so, graphene oxide proved far better than the bentonite clays and granulated activated carbon commonly used in nuclear cleanup.
Graphene oxide introduced to simulated wastes coagulated within minutes, quickly clumping the worst toxins, Kalmykov said. The process worked across a range of pH values.
The low cost and biodegradable qualities of graphene oxide should make it appropriate for use in permeable reactive barriers, a fairly new technology for in situ groundwater remediation, he said.
The study was published in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.