US made military uniforms capable of destroying nerve toxins in minutes

Scientists are working with the US military to create clothes that can quickly kill toxic substances, a measure to protect soldiers from chemical weapons.

Inside the laboratory of chemist Omar Farha at Northwestern University, he and his colleagues are working on a special project, supported by the US Army. They mixed a powder and liquid into a paste-like mixture, dipped some cotton cloths, then dried them. Through this process, those pieces of cloth can quickly neutralize the toxins of many dangerous chemicals, which can affect the human nerves.

This fabric is the latest success in the 10-year history of developing uniforms that can protect wearers from chemical weapons, with the ability to destroy nerve toxins VX and soman , also known as GD - a form of "relative" but more dangerous than sarin . These compounds have the ability to destroy the human central nervous system, preventing interoperability between nerve cells. Just apply them on your body, such as your face, you will die within hours.

This fabric can protect the wearer from chemical weapons.(Illustration).

Currently soldiers in the US military are also wearing uniforms that can absorb nerve toxins, but are not capable of killing. The current goal is to create fabrics that meet both criteria.

With many different approaches, scientists can neutralize these nerve agents and put it into a solution cup. At this point, water will play the role of decomposing the toxins slowly over several days, the process can be done quickly and in as little as a few minutes thanks to the catalyst.

But the challenge for Farha and his team is how to create the same chemical reaction on the surface of a dry cloth. To solve the problem, they covered the fabric with one important thing: a molecule that exists as a crystal called MOF-808 . This molecule will essentially "collect" water from the atmosphere of the environment, because water vapor will condense on them due to their unique shape and chemical properties. When MOF-808 comes into contact with neurotoxins, water binds to the molecules of the toxin and disrupts its structure. Throughout this process, zirconium inside MOF-808 crystals will be responsible for the catalyst, thereby shortening the time to destroy nerve toxins. As long as the fabric is in an environment with a moisture content of about 30%, it will collect enough water to do this in just a few minutes.

The bright patches on this photo are carbon dioxide particles trapped inside an organic metal frame.This image was taken using a molecular-level imaging technique developed by Stanford researchers.

In addition, Farha and his team also tested the new fabric under different conditions such as it soaked in kerosene swimming, artificial perspiration, etc.The results showed that these agents did not affect the brand's performance. working capacity of the detoxification mechanism. In fact, some sweat absorbing seems to be able to destroy toxins better, probably thanks to the added water.

Speaking of MOF-808, it's essentially a large group of molecules inside what is called an "organic metal frame , " where scientists can use it to control chemical reactions in a key way. body. This framework consists of metal atoms linked to a chain of organic molecules, forming a crystal structure shaped like a cage. The scientists can then take advantage of this structure to adjust it to something that possesses different properties, and in this case it is water absorption.

Until now, scientists have designed more than 50,000 different types of frames, each of which will correspond to a series of chemical reactions. Outside the country, they also want to use this "trap" to capture carbon dioxide emitted from coal plants or collect hydrogen gas to use for fuel cells.

Soldiers from the US military are also wearing uniforms that can absorb nerve toxins.

In addition to the aforementioned molecules, the coating that Farha created also uses a polymer called polyethylenimine , with the ability to bond the organic metal frame to the fabric surface evenly. To optimize this adhesion, scientists have developed a technique to take photos of an organic metal frame. To do this, they let the structure undergo a chemical reaction, then dip it into liquid nitrogen and photograph it under a microscope. Thanks to liquid nitrogen, the reaction is "frozen" immediately, allowing the scientists to adjust frame by frame.

Not stopping at creating toxic-resistant uniforms of biological weapons, Farha's and his colleagues' technologies can be applied to many different fields.