Ag-Ti₃C₂ MXene: A Promising Sorbent for Iodine Gas Capture in Nuclear Waste

The capture and disposal of radioactive iodine gas, a byproduct of used nuclear fuel, are increasingly critical in the nuclear industry to ensure the sustainability of nuclear energy. There is a need for novel materials to capture such radioactive waste efficiently. MXenes, a family of 2D transition metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides, exhibit intriguing physical and chemical properties, including customizable surface terminations, tunable interlayer spacing, high surface area, and excellent electronic conductivity. Their remarkable performance extends across diverse applications, encompassing energy storage, catalysis, water purification, and coating materials. In this study, we present a novel application for MXene hybrids, utilizing silver-MXene (Ag-Ti₃C₂T<i>_x</i>), as an effective sorbent for iodine gas at operating temperature of 150 °C. The hybrid was synthesized using a straightforward reduction of AgNO₃ to produce Ag nanoparticles that grow on the surfaces of Ti₃C₂T<i>_x</i> MXene layers. Our research demonstrates a notable iodine capture capacity in Ag-Ti₃C₂T_x, surpassing widely reported iodine sorbents like silver zeolite (AgZ)¹ and Ag-aerogel². Specifically, the iodine loading in Ag-Ti₃C₂T_x reached 0.62 g_iodine/g_sorbent, outperforming AgZ and Ag-aerogel, which recorded 0.22 g_iodine/g_sorbent and 0.56 g_iodine/g_sorbent respectively. These findings highlight the potential of this synthesized hybrid material as effective sorbent for capturing iodine gas.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>[1] Asmussen, R.M., Turner, J., Chong, S., Riley, B.J., 2022. Review of recent developments in iodine wasteform production. Frontiers in Chemistry<br/>[2] Matyáš, J., Ilton, E.S., Kovarik, L., 2018. Silver-functionalized silica aerogel: towards an understanding of aging on iodine sorption performance. RSC Advances 8