Remarkable iodine uptake by aniline-based macrocyclic arenes through a reverse dissolution mechanism

Abstract

A series of aniline-based macrocycles (An[2]s) were synthesized and applied to iodine capture. The An[2]s showed remarkable iodine uptake capacities of up to 7.35 g g⁻¹ in the vapor phase and significantly fast adsorption kinetics in both vapor and aqueous solutions. A new mechanism called reverse dissolution was proposed based on the unusually high iodine-loading capacities and the crystal-to-amorphous phase transition properties. The adsorbed iodine could be readily released by heating or immersing in an organic solvent, with the high iodine capture performance being kept after many cycles.