Porous textile composites (PTCs) for the removal and the decomposition of chemical warfare agents (CWAs)-A review

Since the first use of a chemical warfare agent (CWA), specific methods of protection have been developed to protect human body from such lethal compounds. The first protection systems rely on impermeable clothing or the capture of the toxics species by an adsorbent such as activated carbon. However, both present important limitations, i.e. heat stress for impermeable protection and a risk of saturation or release of toxic compounds for the adsorbent. The optimal protection should therefore be active, i.e. be able to both capture and detoxify CWAs. In this optic, this review describes active porous textiles composites (PTC) used as protective garments against CWAs. To this day, a large variety of porous compounds such as zeolites, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) or aerogels have shown catalytic degradation of CWAs. The integration of these active solids to textile fibers is then detailed, highlighting the importance of the electrospinning technique or the pre-functionalization of fibers. Concerning the detoxification process, MOFs have focused a large part of the PTC research due to their exceptional properties (high surface area and tunable porosity combined to a catalytic activity). More particularly, Zr-based MOFs exhibit exceptional results in terms of CWA detoxification and are currently highly studied. Besides, this present state of art includes other active PTCs (functionalized activated carbon fibers ACFs or zeolite composites) rarely discussed in reviews, to give a full overview of the existing PTC used against CWA. (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V.