Highly efficient capture of iodine vapor by [Mo3S13]2− intercalated layered double hydroxides

Abstract

From the swollen LDH, bulky [Mo3S13]2− anions are facilely introduced into the LDH interlayers to assemble the Mo3S13-LDH composite, which exhibits excellent iodine capture performance and good irradiation resistance. The positive-charged LDH layers may disperse the [Mo3S13]2− uniformly within the interlayers, providing abundant adsorption sites for effectively trapping iodine. The Mo-S bond serving as a soft Lewis base has strong affinity to I2 with soft Lewis acidic characteristic, which is conducive to improvement of iodine capture via physical sorption. Besides, chemisorption has a significant contribution to the iodine adsorption. The S22−/S2− in [Mo3S13]2− can reduce the I2 to [I3]− ions, which are facilely fixed within the LDH gallery in virtue of electrostatic attraction. Meanwhile, the S22−/S2− themselves are oxidized to S8 and SO42−, while Mo4+ is oxidized (by O2 in air) to Mo6+, which combines with SO42− forming amorphous Mo(SO4)3. With the collective interactions of chemical and physical adsorption, the Mo3S13-LDH demonstrates an extremely large iodine adsorption capacity of 1580 mg/g. Under γ radiation, the structure of Mo3S13-LDH well maintains and iodine adsorption capability does not deteriorate, indicating the good irradiation resistance. This work provides an important reference to tailor cost-effective sorbents for trapping iodine from radioactive nuclear wastes.