Air filtration against Chemical Warfare Agent Surrogate Vapors: The optimization of Green ZIF Synthesis and their Deposition on Activated Carbon Textiles

The use of toxic chemical warfare agents since World War I established the development of effective protective materials/media essential. In this context, nanoporous activated carbon textiles constitute a promising platform for protective fabrics due to their high porosity, lightweight, flexibility, and tunable surface chemistry heterogeneity. However, their limited catalytic detoxifying properties remain a key drawback. The incorporation of meta-organic frameworks (MOFs) can significantly enhance their multifunctionality owing to their porous structure and catalytic sites. This study aimed to develop an optimal “green” synthesis route for mono- and bimetallic zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) and to achieve their efficient deposition onto activated carbon fabrics. The resulting materials were evaluated for their detoxification performance against simulants of organosulfur and organophosphate chemical warfare agents, demonstrating that bimetallic and defect-rich ZIF nanostructures exhibit superior performance, even in small quantities, by improving physicochemical properties and catalytic detoxification efficiency, ultimately leading to superior protection media against toxic vapors/aerosols.