Ultra-Fast Degradation of Chemical Warfare Agents Using MOF-Nanofiber Kebabs

Abstract

The threat associated with chemical warfare agents (CWAs) motivates the development of new materials to provide enhanced protection with a reduced burden. Metal-organic frame-works (MOFs) have recently been shown as highly effective catalysts for detoxifying CWAs, but challenges still remain for integrating MOFs into functional filter media and/or protective garments. Herein, we report a series of MOF-nanofiber kebab structures for fast degradation of CWAs. We found TiO₂ coatings deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD) onto polyamide-6 nanofibers enable the formation of conformal Zr-based MOF thin films including UiO-66, UiO-66-NH₂ , and UiO-67. Cross-sectional TEM images show that these MOF crystals nucleate and grow directly on and around the nanofibers, with strong attachment to the substrates. These MOF-functionalized nanofibers exhibit excellent reactivity for detoxifying CWAs. The half-lives of a CWA simulant compound and nerve agent soman (GD) are as short as 7.3 min and 2.3 min, respectively. These results therefore provide the earliest report of MOF-nanofiber textile composites capable of ultra-fast degradation of CWAs.

Keywords: atomic layer deposition; chemical warfare agents; metal-organic frameworks; nanofibers; thin films.