Biphenyl-bridged wrinkled mesoporous silica nanoparticles for radioactive iodine capture

The capture of volatile radioactive iodine-129 is an important process for nuclear fission. Biphenyl-bridged wrinkled mesoporous silica shows similar performance for iodine sequestration to commercial Ag-mordenite and avoids the use of expensive silver. The biphenyl-wrinkled mesoporous silica nanoparticles function as a scaffold for biphenyl groups and also as a fluorescent indicator for the loading of iodine. The nanoparticles have a surface area of 973 m2/g and the biphenyl molecules form an electron charge-transfer complex with iodine. Iodine was loaded into the biphenyl-bridged wrinkled mesoporous silica (BWMS) at 19 ± 0.2 % loading by mass.