Microporous Self‐Assembled Pd(II) Tetrahedral Cages for Rapid and Reversible Multi‐Phase Sequestration of Iodine and Methyl Iodide
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT Industrial and medical iodine leaks create serious environmental and health risks, creating the need for materials capable of efficiently capturing radioactive iodine from air and water. Herein, we report a systematic study of four tetrahedral, microporous, self‐assembled palladium‐based coordination cages ( C1–C4 ) incorporating high‐affinity binding motifs, including naphthalene, tetrazine, benzothiadiazole, and benzene. Despite the absence of permanent porosity, these cages exhibit exceptional iodine uptake, reaching up to ~3.78 g g ‒1 in the vapor phase at 75 ο C and ~3.52 g g ‒1 in aqueous media, accompanied by fast kinetics surpassing state‐of‐the‐art COFs and MOFs. Dynamic flow‐through experiments further demonstrate their efficiency, with C4 achieving a record elution volume of 9.2 L g ‒1 in a 0.5 mM I 3 − solution. The cages enable efficient iodine removal under dynamic vapor‐phase conditions (1.92 g g ‒1 ), reduce iodine concentrations from ppm to ppb levels in real water samples, and exhibit strong affinity toward methyl iodide vapor (up to 1.44 g g ‒1 ). DFT calculations indicate that the observed performance originates from cooperative π–iodine interactions and nucleophilic heteroatom binding. Combined with structural robustness, recyclability, and scalable synthesis, these coordination cages establish a new benchmark and represent the first example of dynamic vapor‐phase iodine capture by coordination cages.
Source: Small
DOI: 10.1002/smll.73642
Language: English
Subfield: Organic Chemistry
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,790
Award: G2494399259
OpenAlex ID: W7160770065