Green conversion of waste alkaline battery material to zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 and its iodine capture mechanism

Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) exhibits excellent performance in capturing iodine. However, the solvent-based procedures and raw materials for ZIF-8 synthesis often lead to secondary pollution. We developed a solvent-minimizing method for preparing ZIF-8 via ball milling of raw material obtained from spent alkaline batteries, and studied its iodine-capture performance and structural changes. Exposure of the ZIF-8 to iodine vapor for 60 min demonstrated that it exhibited industrially competitive iodine-capture performance (the adsorbed amount reaches to 1123 mg g