NOVEL SORBENTS FOR CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS

WHILE ACTIVATED CARBON IS A COMMONLY USED SORBENT FOR CHEMICAL WARFARE (CW) AGENTS, IT HAS TWO DISADVANTAGES: (L) ITS PERFORMANCE IS DEGRADED BY EXPOSURE TO WATER, AND (2) IT BINDS BUT DOES NOT DESTROY THE CW AGENT. A NEW FORM OF CARBON (C60, CALLED BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE) HAS RECENTLY (LATE 1990) BEEN CHARACTERIZED, AND THIS HAS LED TO A PERIOD OF INTENSE INVESTIGATION INTO THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THIS MATERIAL. TDA RESEARCH HAS AN ONGOING RESEARCH EFFORT IN THE PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF C60, AND IS DEVELOPING A ROUTE TO THE MATERIAL WITH THE POTENTIAL TO SHARPLY REDUCE COSTS. AVAILABLE DATA SUGGEST THAT C60 SHOULD BE AN EFFECTIVE SORBENT FOR CW AGENTS, AND THAT ITS PERFORMANCE SHOULD NOT BE AFFECTED BY WATER. IN PHASE I WORK TDA RESEARCH WILL DETERMINE THE ADSORPTIVE CAPACITY OF C60 BY MEASURING ADSORPTION ISOTHERMS FOR C60 WITH SIMULANTS FOR CW AGENTS. A HIGH SURFACE AREA MATERIAL CONTAINING C60 WILL BE PREPARED BY INTRODUCING C60 ONTO AN ACTIVATED CARBON. TO TEST THE ABILITY OF THIS MODIFIED ACTIVATED CARBON AS A FILTER MATERIAL, WE WILL PASS A GAS STREAM CONTAINING SIMULANTS FOR CW AGENTS THROUGH IT AND MEASURE BREAKTHROUGH CURVES. THE MODIFIED ACTIVATED CARBON WILL BE EVALUATED WITH RESPECT TO ITS SORPTIVE PROPERTIES AND RESISTANCE TO DEGRADATION BY WATER, COMPARED WITH UNMODIFIED MATERIAL. GRAPHITIC CARBON IS ALSO WELL KNOWN AS A CATALYST SUPPORT, AND WE BELIEVE THAT C60 WILL HAVE UNIQUE ADVANTAGES IN THIS AREA. IF PHASE I WORK DEMONSTRATES THAT C60 HAS POTENTIAL TO EFFECTIVELY ADSORB CW AGENTS, PHASE II RESEARCH WILL PREPARE AND TEST MATERIALS USING THIS SORBENT, AND WILL ALSO PREPARE TRANSITION METAL DERIVATIVES OF C60 AND EVALUATE THEIR POTENTIAL TO DESTROY CW AGENTS BY CATALYZING OXIDATION AT AMBIENT OR ELEVATED TEMPERATURES. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IDENTIFY NEW MATERIALS WHICH ARE MORE EFFECTIVE AT ADSORBING AND DESTROYING CHEMICAL AGENTS.