K M Venthanarasu, Murugan Arunachalam
Nuclear fission reactions release iodine and methyl iodide, both of which are highly toxic to the environment and all living organisms. To address this issue, in this work, we developed a calix[4] arene-triazine-based cross-linked polymer capable of capturing both iodine and methyl iodide. The polymer exhibited excellent adsorption capacities, capturing iodine from the vapor phase at 100°C (4819 mg.g-1) and from the aqueous phase (756 mg.g-1). In addition, it exhibited an efficient methyl iodide vapor capture capacity of 2334 mg.g-1. The applicability of the polymer as a stationary phase adsorbent has also been validated by dynamic flow-through experiments, which demonstrated the real-world applications of the polymer in treating nuclear waste streams.