Volume 54, Issue 23 pp. 6795-6799
Communication

Instantaneous Hydrolysis of Nerve-Agent Simulants with a Six-Connected Zirconium-Based Metal–Organic Framework

Dr. Su-Young Moon

Dr. Su-Young Moon

Department of chemistry Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3113 (USA)

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Dr. Yangyang Liu

Dr. Yangyang Liu

Department of chemistry Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3113 (USA)

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Prof. Joseph T. Hupp

Corresponding Author

Prof. Joseph T. Hupp

Department of chemistry Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3113 (USA)

Department of chemistry Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3113 (USA)Search for more papers by this author
Prof. Omar K. Farha

Corresponding Author

Prof. Omar K. Farha

Department of chemistry Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3113 (USA)

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)

Department of chemistry Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3113 (USA)Search for more papers by this author
First published: 07 May 2015
Citations: 371

We gratefully acknowledge DTRA for financial support (grant HDTRA-1-10-0023). This work made use of the J. B. Cohen X-Ray Diffraction Facility supported by the MRSEC program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University.

Graphical Abstract

Detox, faster than fast: Chemical-warfare agents, including nerve agents, are a threat to humans. A six-connected zirconium metal–organic framework (MOF) can hydrolyze a nerve-agent simulant within 30 s which is faster than any other catalyst reported. It is a promising material for protective equipment as well as the elimination of large stores of nerve agents.

Abstract

A nerve-agent simulant based on a phosphate ester is hydrolyzed using a MOF-based catalyst. Suspensions of MOF-808 (6-connected), a material featuring 6-connected zirconium nodes, display the highest hydrolysis rates among all MOFs that have been reported to date. A plug-flow reactor was also prepared with MOF-808 (6-connected) as the active layer. Deployed in a simple filtration scheme, the reactor displayed high hydrolysis efficiency and reusability.

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