Structured inorganic oxide-based materials for the absorption and destruction of CBRN agents

Absorption and destruction of chemical and biological (CBRN) hazardous agents can be required on the field (decontamination after warfare or terrorist use) as well as in laboratories, pilot plants and chemical agent destruction sites (abatement of CBRN weapons). Inorganic metal oxides, in all forms and formulations, constitute a large class of materials that are suitable for such purposes. They are robust under usual working conditions, rich in specific surface sorption sites, active in the degradation of hazardous compounds via catalytic or photocatalytic mechanisms and, in most cases, relatively cheap. In addition, thanks to the recent advances in the nanosciences, structured nanosized inorganic solids show promising performances because of their high activity and selectivity, even at very low catalyst to toxic agent ratios. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.