An Amidoxime-Functionalized Porous Reactive Fiber against Toxic Chemicals

The prevalence of toxic chemicals, ranging from chemical warfare agents (CWAs) to toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), emphasizes the importance of developing materials that can address these threats to both humanity and the environment. Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) have emerged as a class of porous materials with tunable reactivity that are capable of answering this call. In this work, we leveraged the excellent processability of the PIM-1 family of polymers to fabricate porous fibrous mats using electrospinning. Following extensive structural characterization, we demonstrate that these reactive fibers are capable of both detoxifying an organophosphorus CWA simulant and capturing the TIC SO2, paving the way towards the implementation of these reactive materials in practical next-generation protective applications.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the capability of PIM-1 family polymers to detoxify organophosphorus CWA simulants and capture TIC SO2, paving the way for the implementation of these reactive materials in practical next-generation protective applications. The porous fibrous mats fabricated using electrospinning show promising potential in addressing threats from toxic chemicals to both humanity and the environment.