Reactive Organic Suspensions Comprising ZnO, TiO₂, and Zeolite Nanosized Adsorbents: Evaluation of Decontamination Efficiency on Soman and Sulfur Mustard

Abstract

This paper comprises an extensive study on the evaluation of decontamination efficiency of three types of reactive organic suspensions (based on nanosized adsorbents) on two real chemical warfare agents: soman (GD) and sulfur mustard (HD). Three types of nanoparticles (ZnO, TiO2, and zeolite) were employed in the decontamination formulations, for enhancing the degradation of the toxic agents. The efficacy of each decontamination solution was investigated by means of GC-MS analysis, considering the initial concentration of toxic agent and the residual toxic concentration, measured at different time intervals, until the completion of the decontamination process. The conversion of the two chemical warfare agents (HD and GD) into their decontamination products was also monitored for 24 h.

Keywords

• chemical warfare agents
• decontamination solution
• nanoparticles
• GC-MS
• degradation
• conversion rate