Synergistic Acid-Base Action Leads to Ultrafast Decontamination of Nerve and Blister Agents by OH− Intercalated Zr4+-Doped MgAl-LDH under Ambient Conditions

Abstract

Developing materials capable of rapidly decontaminating nerve and blister agents directly under ambient conditions are crucial for practical applications. In this work, Mg₃Al_1-xZr_x-LDH with different Zr⁴⁺ doping contents and corresponding OH⁻ intercalated materials Mg₃Al_1-xZr_x-LDH-OH are synthesized. First, they are used for the decontamination of nerve agents under ambient conditions, showing that increasing the Zr⁴⁺ doping amount accelerates the decontamination rate of diethyl cyanophosphonate (DECP) and soman (GD), with the half-life of DECP and GD being 3–5 times shorter with Mg₃Al_0.6Zr_0.4-LDH (the highest Zr⁴⁺ doping content) compared to Mg₃Al₁-LDH. Notably, the intercalation of OH⁻ in Mg₃Al_0.6Zr_0.4-LDH further greatly enhances the catalytic activity for DECP and GD, the reaction half-life of DECP and GD with Mg₃Al_0.6Zr_0.4-LDH-OH being 18 s and <15 s, respectively, which is the shortest recorded so far. Additionally, under ambient conditions, Mg₃Al_0.6Zr_0.4-LDH-OH exhibits superior detoxification performance for mustard gas (HD) compared to Mg₃Al_0.6Zr_0.4-LDH, with 92.8% of HD being removed within 6 h. Mechanistic studies reveal that Mg₃Al_0.6Zr_0.4-LDH-OH efficiently decontaminates nerve and blister agents utilizing the synergistic effect of Lewis acid-base sites (Zr⁴⁺ and laminate OH groups) and interlayer OH⁻. To extend the practical applications of the materials, PVA@(PAN/LDH-OH) self-detoxifying fiber loaded with Mg₃Al_0.6Zr_0.4-LDH-OH is prepared.