Iodine sorption by polyurethane (PU) and melamine-formaldehyde (MF) foams was studied using both iodine sublimation and iodine solutions with hexanes and toluene. In the sublimation process, the diffusion kinetics was investigated and the interaction between iodine and PU foams was characterized by DSC, TGA, Raman spectroscopy and electrical conductivity measurements. In the solution process, the equilibrium absorption followed the distribution law and the distribution coefficients varied depending on the solvent used. MF foam achieved no iodine absorption in both processes which can be attributed to the lack of charge-transfer interactions. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.