@article{Feng2026, 
author = {Jinglan Feng and Jiawen Zhang and Renjian Liu and Dongtao Tan and Hongjie Zou and Baiming Liang and Manqi Liu and Kuan Liang and Hongxia Xi and Chongxiong Duan and Ting Chen},
title = {Nanoscale hierarchically porous metal-organic frameworks: Reverse microemulsion synthesis and enhanced iodine capture},
year = {2026},
journal = {Environmental Chemistry and Safety},
volume = {2},
number = {2},
pages = {9600016},
keywords = {Metal-organic frameworks, Nanoscale crystals, Hierarchically porous structure, Iodine adsorption performance.},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/ECS.2026.9600016},
doi = {10.26599/ECS.2026.9600016},
abstract = {Radioactive iodine constitutes a critical and persistent contaminant in nuclear waste management and environmental remediation. Nanoscale hierarchically porous metal-organic frameworks (NH-MOFs) exhibit considerable potential for iodine removal. However, the synthesis of NH-MOFs with tunable porosity and high stability remains an immense challenge. In this study, bimetallic nanoscale hierarchically porous Zn/Co-MOFs were synthesized via a reverse microemulsion method. The resulting nanoscale hierarchically porous Zn/Co-MOFs were characterized using a complementary combination of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). These characterization results confirmed that the crystal size, pore size, and number of unsaturated metal sites in the nanoscale hierarchically porous Zn/Co-MOFs (Zn/Co-MOF_An) could be easily tuned by controlling the microemulsion parameters (e.g., the aqueous-to-oil ratio and surfactant concentration). The as-synthesized Zn/Co-MOF_An exhibited excellent iodine adsorption capacities (iodine vapor: 6.55 g/g; liquid-phase iodine: 585 mg/g) owing to the combined effects of shortened diffusion distances and hierarchical porosity. This work highlights the potential of Zn/Co-MOFs as high-performance and scalable adsorbents for radioactive iodine remediation.}
}