Bimetallic mutual-doping magnetic aerogels for iodine reduction capture and immobilization

Xin-Yu Zhou; Kai-Wei Chen; Ao-Tian Gu; Shan Yun; Ping Mao; Yi Yang; Jing Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.01.048

Bimetallic mutual-doping magnetic aerogels for iodine reduction capture and immobilization

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Apr 15:660:1048-1057. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.01.048. Epub 2024 Jan 12.

Authors

Xin-Yu Zhou¹, Kai-Wei Chen², Ao-Tian Gu², Shan Yun³, Ping Mao³, Yi Yang⁴, Jing Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China; National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Mineral Salt Deep Utilization, Key Laboratory for Palygorskite Science and Applied Technology of Jiangsu Province, School of Chemical Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an 223003, China.
² Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
³ National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Mineral Salt Deep Utilization, Key Laboratory for Palygorskite Science and Applied Technology of Jiangsu Province, School of Chemical Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an 223003, China.
⁴ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control (AEMPC), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China. Electronic address: yangyi@njust.edu.cn.
⁵ National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Mineral Salt Deep Utilization, Key Laboratory for Palygorskite Science and Applied Technology of Jiangsu Province, School of Chemical Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an 223003, China. Electronic address: chenjing6910@163.com.

PMID: 38220495
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.01.048

Abstract

Adsorption is considered to be one of the most effective methods to remove radioiodine from the solution. However, developing highly efficient adsorbents and the rapid recovery of the used adsorbents is still a challenge. Here, a series of Cu/Fe₃O₄ bimetallic mutual-doping magnetic aerogels (Cu/Fe₃O₄-BMMA) were synthesized. Based on the in-situ bimetallic co-gelation process, the high dispersion of Cu in the aerogel was realized, providing conditions for the efficient elimination of I₂. The Fe³⁺ in the initial gel was reduced to magnetic Fe₃O₄ during the preparation process, allowing for the quick recovery of the adsorbent through the application of a magnetic field. The adsorption experiments showed that Cu/Fe₃O₄-BMMA has good I₂ adsorption capacity (631.3 mg/g) and fast capture kinetics (equilibrium time < 30 min). In addition, Cu/Fe₃O₄-BMMA was able to effectively remove trace I₂ in the solution from ppm level (1.0 ppm) down to ppb level (≤30 ppb). The adsorbed I₂ was converted into stable CuI, avoiding secondary pollution due to desorption. Overall, this study provides a potentially efficient iodine capture material for long-term decay storage of radioactive iodine.

Keywords: Adsorption; Aerogel; Bimetallic mutual-doping; I(2); Magnetically recyclable.