Novel hydrophobic hierarchical porous carbon from sewage sludge for the efficient capture of gaseous iodine

Finding an inexpensive and efficient porous adsorbent to capture the gaseous radioiodine generated during spent fuel reprocessing has been challenging. Herein, we present a design philosophy for waste control to develop porous carbon for gaseous iodine capture from sewage sludge waste. Among them, the novel in situ etching of polytetrafluoroethylene was employed to improve pore accessibility. The hazards of the conventional preparation of sludge-derived carbon using highly corrosive NaOH and HF solutions were overcome. Polytetrafluoroethylene etched porous carbon with large specific surface area (1103 m2/g), interconnected hierarchical porous structure, and excellent hydrophobicity (water contact angle 126.52°), providing efficient adsorption of gaseous iodine in hot (30–150 °C) and humid (50–96% relative humidity [RH]) environments. The iodine adsorption of hierarchical porous carbon was tested under static and dynamic conditions, and high records have been achieved. Notably, due to the structural advantage of hydrophobicity, a considerable dynamic adsorption capacity (1746.77 mg/g) was also maintained in a mixed iodine gas stream containing water vapor in a humid (50% RH) hot (75 °C) condition. This study is the first to use an in situ etching strategy for polytetrafluoroethylene, which opens a new avenue for converting sludge waste into low-cost porous carbon and provides an attractive option for capturing iodine in hot and humid environments.