AER/Inorganic Seminar – Pong Huynh

About the event

Speaker: Phong Huynh

Group: Qiang (Jack) Zhang

Title: Conventional and Modern Approaches in Iodine Adsorption: Mechanisms and Host–Guest Interactions

Abstract: The emission of volatile, radioactive iodine isotopes, including the long‑lived fission product I129 and the short‑lived but highly radiotoxic I131, from nuclear reprocessing poses an environmental remediation challenge. These species are persistent and highly mobile in the environment, therefore more robust and efficient iodine capture and storage technologies are needed. Traditional adsorbents such as activated carbon and zeolites have been used due to their high surface areas and porosities, which enable adsorption of iodine species. However, these conventional materials rely on weak physisorption interactions, resulting in low binding affinities and limited adsorption capacities. Recent advances in understanding host-guest interactions, such as the different mechanisms between physisorption and chemisorption, have led to the developments of new materials with enhanced performance. Among these materials, ionic metal–organic frameworks (iMOFs) have emerged as promising candidates. Their charged framework and counterions as suitable binding sites offer much stronger and more selective interactions with iodine species. In my talk, I will provide an overview of conventional iodine adsorption methods and their limitations. I will then discuss the advances and drawbacks of iodine adsorption using iMOFs and other methods. Finally, I will outline current challenges and propose future directions for designing next‑generation materials for effective iodine capture.

Sources:

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(4) Chong, S.; El Khoury, L. G.; Oshiro, J. M.; Riley, B. J.; Asmussen, R. M.; Fountain, M. S. Static And Dynamic Iodine Loading Tests with Commercial And Developmental Sorbents: A Head-to-Head Comparison. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2025, 64 (49), 23411–23421. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.5c03383.

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