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 catalytic properties. The decontamination reaction of chloro ethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES) as an surrogate of sulfur mustard have been accomplished on the surface of CuO NPs with different weight ratios at ambient temperature and monitored by Gas chromatography equipped with Flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and Gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). CuO NPs were successfully synthesized via precipitation method in the absence and presence of polyvinylpyrrolydone (PVP) and copper (ΙΙ) nitrate as the precursors. PVP was used as a capping agent to control and reduce the agglomeration of the nanoparticles. The synthesized CuO NPs were characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The GC analysis results revealed that the decontamination of CEES occurred in n-hexane solvent with the weight ratio of 1:40 (CEES: CuO NPs) after 12 h with more than 90% yield. The hydrolysis product such as hydroxyl ethyl ethyl sulfide (HEES) was also identified by GC-MS analysis.