Synthesis of bulk foam-like palygorskite based adsorbent for efficient and convenient recyclable removal of radioactive iodine and iodide

• Bulk foam-like palygorskite based adsorbent (PDMA-PAL) was fabricated by the emulsion template method. • PDMA-PAL possesses the excellent adsorption activity on the removal of iodine and iodide. • Electron-rich N heteroatoms of PDMA-PAL has a strong affinity with iodine and iodide. • PDMA-PAL exhibits excellent convenient recyclability. Radioactive iodine is the inevitable product of nuclear fission, and the types and valence states of iodine are relatively rich and easy to convert to each other. Therefore, the synthesis of a material that can be easily recovered and efficiently remove polyvalent radioactive iodine has great strategic significance for the safe use of nuclear power. Bulk foam-like palygorskite based adsorbents (PDMA-PAL) with the macroscopic pore size of 40 to 150 μm were synthesized by the emulsion template method using dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) as the functional monomer and cheap palygorskite (PAL) as the matrix material. The excessive addition of DMAEMA and PAL will lead to the collapse of the porous structure. Optimized PDMA 2 -PAL shows excellent adsorption capacity (2.14 g/g) for iodine in cyclohexane solution with the equilibrium time of 5 h. PDMA 2 -PAL also exhibits an excellent adsorption capacity for gaseous iodine (308 wt%), and the I 2 adsorption mechanism is the strong affinity and charge transfer of electron-rich N heteroatoms for electron-deficient iodine. PDMA 2 -PAL also achieves an outstanding iodide adsorption capacity (2.1mmol/g) within 5 min, and the I − adsorption mechanism is the electrostatic interaction between I − and the derivatization of tertiary amine under acidic conditions. Moreover, the deprotonation in alkaline solution can desorb iodide efficiently, which makes PDMA-PAL exhibit excellent recyclability. Importantly, PDMA-PAL also shows excellent simultaneous adsorption ability of iodide and iodine, and also exhibits stable adsorption activity in actual water. This study provides promising results for the removal of polyvalent radioactive iodine by bulk foam-like palygorskite based adsorbent in environmental remediation.