An overview on metal Oxide-based materials for iodine capture and storage

Long-lived 129I, short-lived 131I, and organic iodides released from nuclear plants are volatile and harmful to the ecosystem. For operational safety, and sustainable development of nuclear industries, effective means of trapping various iodine radioisotopes are of great concern. Wet scrubbing methods are often combined with adsorbents to entrap radioiodine species effectively, and thus the search for materials with high performance is still needed. Metal oxides are believed to be potential candidates for real applications. In this review, we documented the metal oxide-based materials for volatile radioactive iodine capture, with limitations on operating conditions, adsorption capacities, and long-term immobilization. Advantages, shortcomings of various metal oxides toward iodine capture, and metal oxide additives for a low-sintering temperature of iodide waste forms have been elucidated for helping in the long-term future development of efficient materials for iodine capture and storage.