VIOLET · Volatile radioIodine removal by covalent-Organic-aerogels towards Long-term Encapsulation and Trapping

Nuclear power supplies about a quarter of Europe’s electricity with very low carbon emissions, making it vital for achieving the EU’s 2050 climate and energy autonomy goals. Yet accidents such as Chernobyl (1986) highlight the persistent risk of radioactive iodine (RI) release, a highly mobile and long-lived pollutant that accumulates in the thyroid and poses serious threats to health and the environment. Current sorbents for RI capture under industrial off-gas conditions are either costly or toxic (silver-based), flammable and unsafe (activated carbon), or limited in stability, mass transfer, and efficiency (other porous materials). To date, no single sorbent combines safety, affordability, scalability, and secure long-term RI storage. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the VIOLET project aims to pioneer low-cost self-standing covalent organic framework (COF) aerogels that integrate tailored binding sites with hierarchical porosity. This innovation seeks to deliver a green, scalable platform for irreversible RI capture with rapid kinetics, serving both as an effective countermeasure in nuclear accident scenarios and as a practical sorbent for standard nuclear waste management. With its innovative sorbent design and cost-effective approach, VIOLET points toward a safer, more sustainable, and autonomous energy landscape for Europe.