Achieving ultrafast and highly selective capture of radiotoxic tellurite ions on iron-based metal-organic frameworks through coordination bond-dominated conversion.

Chemically durable and effective adsorbents for radiotoxic TeO (Te and Te) anions remain in great demand for contamination remediation. Herein, a low-cost iron-based metal-organic framework (MIL-101(Fe)) was used as an adsorbent to capture TeO anions from contaminated solution with ultrafast kinetics and record-high adsorption capacity of 645 mg g for TeO and 337 mg g for TeO, outperforming previously reported adsorbents. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed that the capture of TeO by MIL-101(Fe) was mediated by the unique C-O-Te and Fe-O-Te coordination bonds at corresponding optimal adsorption sites, which enabled the selective adsorption of TeO from solution and further irreversible immobilization under the geological environment. Meanwhile, MIL-101(Fe) works steadily over a wide pH range of 4-10 and at high concentrations of competing ions, and it is stable under β-irradiation even at high dose of 200 kGy. Moreover, the MIL-101(Fe) membrane was fabricated to efficiently remove TeO ions from seawater for practical use, overcoming the secondary contamination and recovery problems in powder adsorption. Finally, the good sustainability of MIL-101(Fe) was evaluated from three perspectives of technology, environment, and society. Our strategy provides an alternative to traditional removal methods that should be attractive for Te contamination remediation.