Overall
- Language
- English
- Conflict of Interest
- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received July 14, 2025
Revised September 29, 2025
Accepted October 26, 2025
Available online February 25, 2026
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Most Cited
Engineered Gold Nanoparticle-Functionalized Polymeric Membranes for Enhanced Radioiodine Capture: Performance, Kinetics, and Chemical Robustness
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-025-00594-y
Abstract
Effective removal of radioactive iodide from aqueous media is essential for addressing environmental and public health
concerns associated with unintended nuclear reactor accidents, medical waste, and industrial processes. In this study, cellulose
acetate (CA) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes functionalized with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)
were systematically evaluated for radioactive iodide capture performance under varying chemical conditions. Both Au-CA
and Au-PVDF membranes exhibited high iodide adsorption capacities, particularly under acidic conditions (maximum
adsorption capacities: 25.97 mg/g and 26.25 mg/g, respectively), driven by enhanced surface protonation and reduced
electrostatic repulsion. Adsorption kinetics closely followed a pseudo-second-order model, confirming chemisorption as
the primary mechanism. Continuous-flow experiments demonstrated rapid adsorption kinetics and high removal efficiencies
(> 99.5%) at extremely low iodide concentrations (~ 2.11 × 10⁻¹¹ M) within short contact times (~ 10 s). Single-photon
emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging using [¹²³I]NaI visually confirmed efficient iodide capture under realistic
operational conditions. Furthermore, chemical stability assessments revealed Au-PVDF membranes to be notably
robust against organic solvents, whereas Au-CA membranes showed enhanced stability in strongly basic environments.
This study provides fundamental insights into adsorption behaviors and demonstrates the strong potential of AuNPfunctionalized
polymeric membranes for rapid, effective radioactive iodine remediation.
