Chemical warfare agents: Structure, properties, decontamination (part 1)

Abstract

The review is aimed at summarizing and systematizing information on various methods of deactivation of chemical warfare agents required on the battlefield, in laboratories, research institutions, production facilities, as well as information on storage and destruction of poisonous substances. The review provides data on warfare poisons with different tactical and physiological characteristics and outlines the main directions of their neutralization, which are the most effective under the conditions of their real use. In the first part of this review, the methods of deactivation of warfare poisonous substances using functionalized metal-organic framework materials, on which reactions of their transformation into low-toxic products take place, are considered in detail. In addition, metal-organic frameworks are porous crystalline structures that have many areas of application and can be used as adsorbents and catalysts. The above material shows the importance of general knowledge about the physical and chemical properties of chemical warfare agents, the rate of their decomposition, the advantages and disadvantages of certain available technologies for their application. This review can be useful for finding new and improving known methods of decontamination of chemical warfare agents and other ecotoxicants, for environmental protection.

Keywords

• chemical warfare agents
• nerve agents
• vesicants
• decontamination
• detection
• protection