Zirconium Hydroxide-coated Nanofiber Mats for Nerve Agent Decontamination

Diverse innovative fabrics with specific functionalities have been developed for requirements such as self-decontamination of chemical/biological pollutants and toxic nerve agents. In this work, Zr(OH)(4)-coated nylon-6,6 nanofiber mats were fabricated for the decontamination of nerve agents. Nylon-6,6 fabric was prepared via the electrospinning process, followed by coating with Zr(OH)(4), which was obtained by the hydrolysis of Zr(OBu)(4) by a sol-gel reaction on nanofiber surfaces. The reaction conditions were optimized by varying the amounts of Zr(OBu)(4),the reaction time, and the temperature of the sol-gel reaction. The composite nanofibers show high decontamination efficiency against diisopropylfluorophosphate, which is a nerve agent analogue, due to its high nucleophilicity that aids in the catalysis of the hydrolysis of the phosphonate ester bonds. Composite nanofiber mats have a large potential and can be applied in specific fields such as military and medical markets.