Understanding
mechanisms of decontamination of chemical warfare
agents (CWA) is an area of intense research aimed at developing new
filtration materials to protect soldiers and civilians in case of
state-sponsored or terrorist attack. In this study, we employed complementary
structural, chemical, and dynamic probes and in situ data collection, to elucidate the complex chemistry, capture, and
decomposition of the CWA simulant, dimethyl chlorophosphonate (DMCP).
Our work reveals key details of the reactive adsorption of DMCP and
demonstrates the versatility of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8)
as a plausible material for CWA capture and decomposition. The in situ synchrotron-based powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD)
and pair distribution function (PDF) studies, combined with Fourier
transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
(XPS), zinc K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), and
Raman spectroscopies, showed that the unique structure, chemical state,
and topology of ZIF-8 enable accessibility, adsorption, and hydrolysis
of DMCP into the pores and revealed the importance of linker chemistry
and Zn2+ sites for nerve agent decomposition. DMCP decontamination
and decomposition product(s) formation were observed by thermogravimetric
analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, and phosphorus (P) K-edge XANES studies.
Differential PDF analysis indicated that the average structure of
ZIF-8 (at the 30 Å scale) remains unchanged after DMCP dosing
and provided information on the dynamics of interactions of DMCP with
the ZIF-8 framework. Using in situ PXRD and diffuse
reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), we showed
that nearly 90% regeneration of the ZIF-8 structure and complete liberation
of DMCP and decomposition products occur upon heating.