Credit: © 2008 Wiley

Nanotubes made of titanate have been proposed for applications such as solar cells and gas sensors, due to their excellent abilities to absorb light and adsorb gases. Now they could provide a new line of defence against chemical weapons. Valérie Keller at Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg and co-workers1 have shown that sheets containing titanate nanotubes can greatly speed up the degradation of common chemical warfare agents by sunlight.

The researchers prepared sheets containing networks of titanate nanotubes encapsulated in tungsten oxide crystal. They sprayed the sheets with dimethylmethylphosphonate (DMMP), one of the components of sarin nerve gas, and diethylsulphide (DES), which represents the main blistering agent in mustard gas. The sheets were then exposed to visible solar light.

The titanate/tungsten oxide sheets acted as efficient photocatalysts, helping the light to break up the toxins. Almost all the DMMP degraded in around 5 min and DES levels were greatly reduced in a few hours.

Keller and co-workers propose weaving their new titanate nanotube materials into clothes. These clothes could provide immediate protection on the battlefield, unlike current decontamination measures (such as incineration or neutralization with chemicals), which tend to be applied 'after the event'.