With the rapid development of the nuclear medicine business worldwide, the removal of iodine-131 from specific contaminated environments to protect public health has important application prospects. In this study, the surface decontamination mechanism of Ce(IV)/HNO3 as a decontaminant for iodine-131-contaminated nonmetallic materials was investigated by using an orthogonal experimental method and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). During the preparation experiments with the contaminated materials, both quartz glass and ceramics reached peak ac...