Mesoporous titanium–manganese dioxide for sulphur mustard and soman decontamination

Titanium(IV)–manganese(IV) nano-dispersed oxides were prepared by a homogeneous hydrolysis of potassium permanganate and titanium(IV) oxo-sulphate with 2-chloroacetamide. Synthesised samples were characterised using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and Barrett–Joiner–Halenda porosity (BJH), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These oxides were taken for an experimental evaluation of their reactivity with sulphur mustard (HD or bis(2-chloroethyl)sulphide) and soman (GD or (3,3′-dimethylbutan-2-yl)-methylphosphonofluoridate). Mn4+ content affects the decontamination activity; with increasing Mn4+ content the activity increases for sulphur mustard and decreases for soman. The best decontamination activities for sulphur mustard and soman were observed for samples TiMn_37 with 18.6 wt.% Mn and TiMn_5 with 2.1 wt.% Mn, respectively.