Exploitation of surface heterogeneity and textural properties in nanoporous carbon fabrics for efficient iodine capture

With rising concerns of the nuclear waste, there has been a quest to find an adsorbent material capable of separating and storing radioactive iodine originated from the nuclear power plant. Herein, we are reporting the nitrogen-enriched nanoporous carbon fabric synthesized by consecutive carbonization and chemical activation methods for the iodine adsorption and storage under nuclear fuel processing condition. The specific surface area of synthesized nanoporous carbon fabric was estimated to be 29 m² g⁻¹, and after chemical activation it increased to 1911 m² g⁻¹. This increase in specific surface area led to high iodine adsorption capacity of 240 wt.% for chemically activated nanoporous carbon fabric while prior to chemical activation its iodine capture capacity was 102 wt.% at 75 °C and atmospheric pressure (nuclear fuel processing condition). The pore size and surface functionality played dominant role in iodine adsorption along with the surface area. The appreciable iodine uptake for the sample without chemical activation may be mainly attributed to its higher nitrogen content.