Chemical weaponsMetal-organic framework quickly destroys toxic nerve agents
First used 100 years ago during the First World War, deadly chemical weapons continue to be a challenge to combat. Scientists have developed a robust new material, inspired by biological catalysts, which is extraordinarily effective at destroying toxic nerve agents that are a threat around the globe. The material, a zirconium-based metal-organic framework (MOF), degrades in minutes one of the most toxic chemical agents known to mankind: Soman (GD), a more toxic relative of sarin. Computer simulations show the MOF should be effective against other easy-to-make agents, such as VX.
Northwestern University scientists have developed a robust new material, inspired by biological catalysts, which is extraordinarily effective at destroying toxic nerve agents that are a threat around the globe. First used 100 years ago during the First World War, deadly chemical weapons continue to be a challenge to combat.
The material, a zirconium-based metal-organic framework (MOF), degrades in minutes one of the most toxic chemical agents known to mankind: Soman (GD), a more toxic relative of sarin. Computer simulations show the MOF should be effective against other easy-to-make agents, such as VX.
A Northwestern University release reports that the catalyst is fast and effective under a wide range of conditions, and the porous MOF structure can store a large amount of toxic gas as the catalyst does its work. These features make the material promising for use in protective equipment worn by soldiers, such as gas masks, and for destroying stockpiles of chemical weapons, such as those currently building up in Syria.
“This designed material is very thermally and chemically robust, and it doesn’t care what conditions it is in,” said chemist Omar K. Farha, who led the research. “The material can be in water or a very humid environment, at a temperature of 130 degrees or minus 15, or in a dust storm. A soldier should not need to worry about under what conditions his protective mask will work. We can put this new catalyst in rugged conditions, and it will work just fine.”
MOFs are very porous, so they can capture, store and destroy a lot of the nasty material, Farha said, making them very attractive for defense-related applications.
The study, the first to demonstrate zirconium MOFs as effective weapons against nerve agents, will be published 16 March by the journal Nature Materials.
“Simple changes to the nerve agent’s molecular structure can change something that can kill a human into something harmless,” said Farha, a research professor of chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. “GD and VX are not very sophisticated agents, but they are very toxic. With the correct chemistry, we can render toxic materials nontoxic.”
Metal-organic frameworks are well-ordered, lattice-like crystals. The nodes of the lattices are metals, and organic molecules connect the nodes. Within their very roomy pores, MOFs can effectively capture gases, such as nerve agents.
The Northwestern MOF, called NU-1000, has nodes of zirconium — the active catalytic site where all the important chemistry takes place.
