A new method has been developed to remove elemental mercury from flue gas. According to the low solubility of elemental mercury in water, a diperiodatocuprate (III) solution was prepared, and the influencing factors, such as DPC concentration, reaction temperature, solution pH, SO2 concentration and NO concentration were investigated. In the presence of SO2 and NO, removal efficiency of 90.5% for elemental mercury was obtained under the optimal experimental conditions, in which DPC concentration was 6.0 mmol/L, reaction temperature was 323 K, and pH was 9.0. Moreover, based on the research results of the hydrolyzing products of IO4-, and the analysis of the removal products of Hg-0, the reaction mechanism of Hg-0 removal was proposed. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.