With
the rapid development of the nuclear industry, the
effective
treatment of radioactive iodine has become an urgent and challenging
task. In this article, we synthesized a nanoporous nitrogen-rich covalent
organic framework (TTA-DMTP-COF) with a specific surface area of up
to 2332 m2/g for the adsorption of iodine (I2) and methyl iodide (CH3I). Adsorption experiments showed
that TTA-DMTP-COF exhibited effective I2 and CH3I adsorption properties; the maximum adsorption capacity of I2 is as high as 2.59 g·g–1, and the
maximum adsorption capacity of CH3I is 1.60 g·g–1. In addition, TTA-DMTP-COF can effectively adsorb
iodine from an iodine–cyclohexane solution, and the adsorption
amount is as high as 516.46 mg/g. Mechanistic studies have shown that
I2 and CH3I enter the nanopores of COF materials
and form charge transfer complexes with various functional groups
in TTA-DMTP-COF (including imines, triazine moieties, and residual
amino groups). The N-methylation reaction specifically binds CH3I to the nucleophilic N site and generates polyiodides during
the adsorption process. Our work demonstrates that TTA-DMTP-COF is
an excellent candidate material capable of capturing radioactive iodine
from air and solution in harsh environments.