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Title: Adsorption and Destruction of the G-Series Nerve Agent Simulant Dimethyl Methylphosphonate on Zinc Oxide

Abstract

Organophosphorus chemical warfare agents (CWAs) are extremely toxic compounds that are nominally mitigated with gas mask filtration employing metal oxide impregnated activated carbon filtration material. To develop more effective sorbents, it is important to understand the surface chemistry between these organophosphorus compounds and the individual components that make up these filtration materials. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed to investigate the adsorption and decomposition mechanisms between a sarin simulant molecule, dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), and zinc oxide, which is a component found in current filtration materials. Theoretical calculations show that DMMP readily adsorbs to a pristine and hydroxylated ZnO ($$101\bar 0$$) surface with average adsorption energies of 132 and 65 kJ mol–1, respectively. Experimental diffuse reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS) reveals that ZnO adsorbs water and readily hydroxylates under ambient conditions, which can facilitate adsorption through hydrogen bonding of the P$$=$$O to ZnO surface hydroxyls. FTIR gas phase analysis also reveals that DMMP decomposes in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) to produce methanol at room temperature. Assuming a fully hydroxylated surface of ZnO, DFT calculations reveal several plausible mechanisms for DMMP decomposition to form methanol with an activation energy barrier of 99.6 kJ mol–1. Finally, on the basis of this energy barrier to decompose DMMP, a turnover frequency (TOF) of only 3.5 × 10–7 s–1 is calculated assuming full coverage of DMMP on the ZnO nanoparticles tested. This value is qualitatively consistent with experimental results.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
  2. Chemistry Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, United States
  3. U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C. (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Univ. of California, Oakland, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1543707
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
ACS Catalysis
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2155-5435
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; chemistry; ZnO; chemical warfare agent; DFT; DRIFTS; hydroxyl; decontamination; filtration

Citation Formats

Holdren, Scott, Tsyshevsky, Roman, Fears, Kenan, Owrutsky, Jeffrey, Wu, Tao, Wang, Xizheng, Eichhorn, Bryan W., Kuklja, Maija M., and Zachariah, Michael R. Adsorption and Destruction of the G-Series Nerve Agent Simulant Dimethyl Methylphosphonate on Zinc Oxide. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1021/acscatal.8b02999.
Holdren, Scott, Tsyshevsky, Roman, Fears, Kenan, Owrutsky, Jeffrey, Wu, Tao, Wang, Xizheng, Eichhorn, Bryan W., Kuklja, Maija M., & Zachariah, Michael R. Adsorption and Destruction of the G-Series Nerve Agent Simulant Dimethyl Methylphosphonate on Zinc Oxide. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.8b02999
Holdren, Scott, Tsyshevsky, Roman, Fears, Kenan, Owrutsky, Jeffrey, Wu, Tao, Wang, Xizheng, Eichhorn, Bryan W., Kuklja, Maija M., and Zachariah, Michael R. Fri . "Adsorption and Destruction of the G-Series Nerve Agent Simulant Dimethyl Methylphosphonate on Zinc Oxide". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.8b02999. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1543707.
@article{osti_1543707,
title = {Adsorption and Destruction of the G-Series Nerve Agent Simulant Dimethyl Methylphosphonate on Zinc Oxide},
author = {Holdren, Scott and Tsyshevsky, Roman and Fears, Kenan and Owrutsky, Jeffrey and Wu, Tao and Wang, Xizheng and Eichhorn, Bryan W. and Kuklja, Maija M. and Zachariah, Michael R.},
abstractNote = {Organophosphorus chemical warfare agents (CWAs) are extremely toxic compounds that are nominally mitigated with gas mask filtration employing metal oxide impregnated activated carbon filtration material. To develop more effective sorbents, it is important to understand the surface chemistry between these organophosphorus compounds and the individual components that make up these filtration materials. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed to investigate the adsorption and decomposition mechanisms between a sarin simulant molecule, dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), and zinc oxide, which is a component found in current filtration materials. Theoretical calculations show that DMMP readily adsorbs to a pristine and hydroxylated ZnO ($101\bar 0$) surface with average adsorption energies of 132 and 65 kJ mol–1, respectively. Experimental diffuse reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS) reveals that ZnO adsorbs water and readily hydroxylates under ambient conditions, which can facilitate adsorption through hydrogen bonding of the P$=$O to ZnO surface hydroxyls. FTIR gas phase analysis also reveals that DMMP decomposes in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) to produce methanol at room temperature. Assuming a fully hydroxylated surface of ZnO, DFT calculations reveal several plausible mechanisms for DMMP decomposition to form methanol with an activation energy barrier of 99.6 kJ mol–1. Finally, on the basis of this energy barrier to decompose DMMP, a turnover frequency (TOF) of only 3.5 × 10–7 s–1 is calculated assuming full coverage of DMMP on the ZnO nanoparticles tested. This value is qualitatively consistent with experimental results.},
doi = {10.1021/acscatal.8b02999},
journal = {ACS Catalysis},
number = 2,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Dec 14 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Fri Dec 14 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

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