title: [Decontamination of chemical warfare agents by photocatalysis].
abstract: Photocatalysis has been widely applied to solar-energy conversion and environmental purification. Photocatalyst, typically titanium dioxide (TiO(2)), produces active oxygen species under irradiation of ultraviolet light, and can decompose not only conventional pollutants but also different types of hazardous substances at mild conditions. We have recently started the study of photocatalytic decontamination of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) under collaboration with the National Research Institute of Police Science. This article reviews environmental applications of semiconductor photocatalysis, decontamination methods for CWAs, and previous photocatalytic studies applied to CWA degradation, together with some of our results obtained with CWAs and their simulant compounds. The data indicate that photocatalysis, which may not always give a striking power, certainly helps detoxification of such hazardous compounds. Unfortunately, there are not enough data obtained with real CWAs due to the difficulty in handling. We will add more scientific data using CWAs in the near future to develop useful decontamination systems that can reduce the damage caused by possible terrorism.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Environmental Management Technology, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology (AIST), Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirakawa
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mera
authors.forename: Taizo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Negishi
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D010777:Photochemistry; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014025:Titanium; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium