Catalytic Decontamination of CWAs

Chemical warfare agents (CWAs) remain a global threat by both terrorist organizations and rogue states. CWAs include organophosphate (OP) nerve agents and sulfur mustard (HD) blistering agents. OP nerve agents are often hydrolyzed to non-toxic products in buffered aqueous solutions; however, HD is immiscible in water and must be decontaminated via oxidation.

The Hill lab has developed a catalytic system for the aerobic oxidation of HD – this system is the fastest reported to-date. As it is solvent-free (requires no solvent), it can be incorporated in a variety of polymer support systems for the entrapment of HD. 

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ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2021, 13, 43, 51519–51524 

Communications Chemistry, 2021,  volume 4, Article number: 33


OP nerve agents are rapidly hydrolyzed in the presence of polyniobates (PONs) and  Zr(IV) metal centers found in many POMs. Detains in nerve agent hydrolysis are explored via multi-modal approaches. 

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ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2021, 4, 6, 5649–5654 

J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2019, 10, 9, 2295–2299

Chemical Physics, 2019, 518, 3037

ACS Catal. 20188, 7068-707

Chem. Commun., 2017, 53, 11480-11483