Host-guest interaction-mediated nanointerface engineering for radioiodine capture

Nuclear power plants are expanding rapidly around the world to meet the growing energy demands. The effective capture of volatile radioiodine is an important area of research that is associated with the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel. However, the construction of high-performance adsorbents depends largely on an in-depth comprehension of the underlying binding mechanism at the gas-solid interface. Recently, a growing number of studies have demonstrated the pivotal role of optimizing the interface properties and binding sites, thereby regulating the interaction between the host (adsorbent) and guest (iodine) molecules. In this review, we first introduce the present understanding of the main mechanism for removing volatile radioiodine, and give more detailed descriptions of the capture pathways of specified adsorbents. Then, we discuss nanointerface engineering in materials, which have been conducted in various studies, and review the result of recent studies. Finally, nanointerface engineering based on the adjustment of host-guest interactions are summarized, and future research directions are presented.