preparation and utilization of mno2 nanoparticles (nps) catalyst for the decontamination against chemical warfare nerve agent simulant (cwnas)

in this scientific research, mno2 nanoparticles (nps) have been successfully prepared by a precipitation method using kmno4, mnso4.h2o and h2o2 (30%) as the precursors. as-prepared sample was identified by x-ray diffraction (xrd), scanning electron microscopy (sem), transmission electron microscopy (tem) and infrared (ir) techniques. the transmission electron microscopy (tem) showed 7-8 nm ranges size of as prepared mno2 nanoparticles. the decontamination reaction of triethyl phosphate (tep) as a chemical warfare nerve agent simulant (cwnas) was carried out on the surface of mno2 nps as the sorbent catalyst with the different weight ratios of tep/mno2 (1:8, 1:16 and 1:32) and studied by using phosphorous-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31pnmr) technique. the 31pnmr analysis results proved that more than 95% of tep was adsorbed on this catalyst in decane solvent with ratio of 1:32 after the elapse of the reaction time (8 h) at room temperature (25±1°c). on the other hand, decontaminated agent simulant amounts for the ratios of 1:16 and 1:8 were lower under similar conditions, respectively. this sorbent catalyst provides enough surface area and enhanced chemical reactivity for instantaneous adsorption and decontamination of tep.