Study on the effective decontamination and hydrolysis of sulfur mustard agent simulant using tenorite (CuO) nanoparticles as a destructive catalyst

In the present study, tenorite (CuO) nanoparticles have been assayed for their catalyticproperties. The decontamination reaction of chloro ethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES) as an surrogate ofsulfur mustard have been accomplished on the surface of CuO NPs with different weight ratios atambient temperature and monitored by Gas chromatography equipped with Flame ionizationdetector (GCFID)and Gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectroscopy (GCMS).CuONPs were successfully synthesized via precipitation method in the absence and presence ofpolyvinylpyrrolydone (PVP) and copper (ΙΙ) nitrate as the precursors. PVP was used as a cappingagent to control and reduce the agglomeration of the nanoparticles. The synthesized CuO NPswere characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and Xraydiffraction (XRD) techniques. The GC analysis results revealed that thedecontamination of CEES occurred in nhexanesolvent with the weight ratio of 1:40 (CEES:CuO NPs) after 12 h with more than 90% yield. The hydrolysis product such as hydroxyl ethylethyl sulfide (HEES) was also identified by GCMSanalysis.Keywords: Tenorite (CuO) nanoparticles; chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES); decontamination;hydrolysis; precipitation; polyvinylpyrrolydone (PVP).

Keywords:

Tenorite (CuO) nanoparticles , chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES) , decontamination , hydrolysis , precipitation , polyvinylpyrrolydone (PVP)