Low U/V selectivity and long extraction time remains the major obstacles in the field of uranium extraction from seawater, since both them can largely reduce the uranium extraction ability of adsorbent. We present herein a robust biomimetic metal-organic framework (MOF) material, designated ECUT-74, engineered through innovative incorporation of helical rod-like secondary building units (SBUs). This structural design introduces a protein-mimicking uranyl-binding motif to make a precise recognition of uranyl, leading to a benchmark U/V selectivity of 104. When applied to real seawater (3.3 μg/L), ECUT-74 demonstrates an ultrafast uranium extraction from seawater with a record-created extraction ability of 16 mg/g in just one day and 22.6 mg/g in five days, along with an extremely low uptake for other metal ions (less than 2 mg/g). The robust nature of this MOF allows for a good reusability for uranium extraction from seawater. All these merits strongly suggest the superior application of ECUT-74 for uranium extraction from seawater.
