Functionalized glass fiber membrane for extraction of iodine species

Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) has been anchored on the glass fiber membrane for capturing radioiodine in gaseous state and dissolved in water. First, precursor alkoxy silane monomer was anchored by sol-gel method on the glass fiber membrane and its polymerizing double bond was used subsequently for the anchoring of PVP by UV graft-polymerization. Thus formed PVP-membrane was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy with EDS and thermo-gravimetric analysis. The sorption efficiency and loading capacity of the membrane toward I-2, and stability of I-2 complexed in the membrane were studied by UV-Vis spectrophotometry and I-131 radiotracer method.