Heteroatom Engineering of Hyper-Cross-Linked Polymers for Iodine Capture

Great advances have been made in the development of porous materials for efficient iodine capture. Among them, introducing high-affinity binding sites (such as heteroatoms) to improve iodine uptake is a promising strategy. However, systematic research on the heteroatom effect for iodine capture, which may be helpful in clarifying the adsorption process and designing materials with excellent performance, has been rarely reported. In this study, seven hyper-cross-linked porous polymers (HCPs) containing boron, nitrogen, and sulfur atoms, individually or in combination, were synthesized. Based on the experimental evidence and computational simulations, it can be concluded that surface area and pore accessibility are important factors for improving iodine capture capacities and that doping heteroatoms can influence the affinity between HCPs and iodine and then influence the pore accessibility of the materials.