Scalable and economical Bi0-SiO2 for the high efficient capture of iodine gas

Development of scalable, cheap and efficient bismuth-loaded materials to capture iodine gas is still challenging. Herein, we reported a facile route to fabricate the scalable, cheap and efficient elemental bismuth-loaded SiO2 (Bi0-SiO2) using commercial SiO2 as support materials. The iodine adsorption performance of the obtained Bi0-SiO2 was investigated and compared with that of SiO2, Bi0 powder and Bi0 mixed SiO2. It was found that the capture capacity of Bi0-SiO2 reached a record high of 1019 mg/g within 60 min, which may be attributed to the supply of abundant effective capture sites by the loose Bi0 nanoballs. Up to 97.7% of iodine was chemically and stably captured, namely BiI3 formed through the reaction between Bi0 and I2. Furthermore, the obtained Bi0-SiO2 exhibited excellent irradiation stability and the captured iodine showed good thermal stability. Owing to its low cost, scalable, timesaving and efficient, Bi0-SiO2 can be employed as a promising candidate sorbent for the capture of iodine gas.