G-series (e.g. sarin, soman, tabun) and V-series (e.g. VX, VS, VR) nerve agents remain one of the most prevalent chemical warfare threats in the world today due to their synthetic accessibility/modularity, ease of administration and potent toxicity. High surface-area, carbonaceous adsorbents, such as activated carbons (ACs) have long been utilized to sequester these types of chemical warfare agents through physisorption mechanisms. These, however, suffer from long-term stability of nerve agents when physisorbed to the surface as well as the reversible nature of the attraction. Herein, we describe our work on developing oxime functionalized ACs (Ox-AC) through controlled Friedel-Crafts acylation and hydroxylamine condensation onto defect and edge sp2 C-H surface sites. For this, we have utilized two high surface-area carbon substrates including sub-micron sized (100-400 nm) super-fine pulverized activated carbon (SPAC) and activated carbon fibers (ACF). Using P2O5/polyphosphoric acid reagents, we have successfully incorporated ketone surface functions via benzoic acid substrates onto which are subsequently converted to oximes through hydroxylamine condensation reactions, as evidenced by FTIR, XPS, TGA and SEM. These materials have demonstrated potent detoxification of nerve agent simulants (i.e. DMNP) in solution and the volatilized state which is monitored using combinations of UV-Vis spectroscopy and 31P NMR. Incorporation of Ox-SPAC into reactive, electrospun polymer nanofibers amplifies their adsorption and detoxification enabling incorporation of these functional materials into textile for chem-bio protection.

Detoxification of nerve agents simulants using oxime-functionalized activated carbons/polymer nanofibers composites combined via electrospinning

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.