A nucleophilic non aqueous decontaminant for degradation of chemical warfare agents

Abstract

An improved non-aqueous decontaminant has been explored against chemical warfare agents sulfur mustard (HD) and soman (GB). This  decontaminant comprises of 2-aminoethanol (30% w/v), dimethylamino ethanol (42% w/v), sodium hydroxide (2% w/v), benzotriazole (1% w/v), and dimethyl sulfoxide (25 %) and it chemically degraded more than 99 % of sulfur mustard and soman within a time of 45 min at -35°C. It was found to be effective over a broad range of temperatures from -35 to +55°C without losing its efficacy even at sub zero temperatures.  This decontaminant exhibited decontamination ratio of V_[Detoxicant]/V_{[HD, GD]Â}  50 or 5  while  a recently reported one exhibited a ratio of 100 or 2 against HD or GD respectively. Although, this ratio decreased slightly in the case of GD, it is sufficient enough for complete decontamination. This improved decontaminant meets all the military requirements and promise its field application in near future.