Phys.org April 22, 2019
Commonly used filtration method as protection against chemical agents is limited in, because once a filter reaches its capacity, it needs to be regenerated, removed, or replaced. A team of researchers in the US (Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, Virginia Tech, Emory University, Kennesaw State University) sought to decompose the nerve agent Sarin and its simulant, dimethyl chlorophosphate (DMCP) into non lethal chemicals using zirconium polytungstate. To identify why a catalyst works they hypothesized that the isolated zirconium atoms were the active sites for this catalyst and they isolated the active molecules from ones that are not changing during the reaction. They determined that the structural changes exposed zirconium atoms to sarin, and the sarin-zirconium interactions were found to be responsible for the decomposition of the nerve agent. In tests with simulants as well as live agents the results confirmed their hypothesis…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Upon DMCP and Sarin exposure the dimeric tungstate undergoes monomerization, making coordinatively unsaturated Zr(IV) centers available, which activate nucleophilic hydrolysis. Credit: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b01002