significance of chemical decomposition of chloroethyl phenyl sulfide (ceps) using zinc-cadmium oxide (zno-cdo) nanocomposite

the zinc-cadmium oxide (zno-cdo) nanocomposites with different weight percentages of cadmium oxide (cdo) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by the sonochemical method using zinc and cadmium nitrates as precursors to probe their nano-structured surfaces for the decomposition reactions of chloroethyl phenyl sulfide (ceps) as a surrogate of sulfur mustard agent simulant. scanning electron microscopy (sem), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (edx), x-ray diffraction (xrd) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ft-ir) techniques were used to consider the characterization and determination of the composition of the synthesized nanocomposites. the reactions were carried out in methanol, chloroform and n-heptane solvents and monitored by gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (gc-fid) and gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectroscopy analyses. the gc analysis clearly demonstrated that maximum decomposition (100%) of ceps took place on the surface of porous zno-25.99 wt% cdo nanocomposite catalyst in n-heptane solvent, after 6 h at room temperature (rt).