This recent paper produced by ESE team James Disley, Dr Guzman Gil-Ramirez and Dr Jose Gonzales Rodriguez discusses the creation of a new polymer and its uses.
A molecular imprinted polymer fabricated from the biomaterial Chitosan was successfully created for the selective trapping of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP).
DMMP is one of several organophosphorus compounds (OPC) which are used in the production of chemical weapons and are considered to be the deadliest chemical warfare agents. The production of these chemical weapons was prohibited in 1993 by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and yet they still remain a threat to our population and the environment.
Despite their toxicity, some OPCs are not classed as chemical warfare agents as they are used heavily within the farming industry as insecticides. The use of dangerous chemicals as pesticides is being slowly phased out by the UK and US, however many countries around the world are reliant on them.
These OPCs can have devastating effects on the environment and could be fatal to individuals if they are mishandled, making the trapping and containing of them more important than ever.
With a recent shift toward renewable and sustainable manufacturing processes, biopolymers have seen a rise in popularity due to their environmental benefits. Chitosan is a common biopolymer which has applications in biomedicine and polymer science. It has recently been used for the selective recovery of metal resources from battery waste.
These characteristics make Chitosan a suitable biopolymer for the trapping of DMMP, and a polymer the authors felt worth experimenting on.
The paper gives a detailed account of this experiment, the results and further discussion of the effects of Chitosan on DMMP. It reveals that a polymer was successfully manufactured from Chitosan and this polymer was able to selectively trap DMMP.
This polymer was found to have superior trapping capabilities to activated charcoal and could successfully be used as a filter for DMMP. This research has huge implications for the future of our environment and is just part of the innovative work being carried out by ESE.
View the published paper in full here.