Polyamidoamine-Organosilicon Dendrimer Coatings for Vapor Phase Cyanide Removal

Since 1993, ASZM-TEDA carbon has been the standard filtration material used by the U.S. military for protection against nerve, blister and blood agents, and other maliciously delivered air contaminants. Although ASZM-TEDA effectively removes these contaminants, alternative air filtration media are sought to ameliorate bulky, unwieldy designs necessitated by current technology. Additional improvements sought include increased absorptive capacity, reduced cost and elimination of the potential hazard of inhaled metal-impregnated carbon dust. We propose to achieve these goals through deployment of polymer-templated metal nano-complexes coated onto commercially available fibrous air filtration media. These complexes will be particularly targeted at more efficient removal of cyanide vapors. Furthermore, polymer encapsulation of metal salts will eliminate ageing effects usually encountered with metal-impregnated carbon, particularly in high humidity environments. The polymers to be used are the recently-invented, curable, hybrid organic-inorganic, nano-scaled dendrimers dubbed "PAMAMOS". These are composed of polyamidoamine cores and curable organosilicon shells. They have excellent coating properties on a variety of substrates including glass, silicon, quartz, metal, wood, paper and plastic. The proposed program will include: (a) synthesis and characterization of dendrimer nano-complexes; (b) coating formation on desired substrates; and (c) preliminary performance evaluation. It is expected that the results obtained will constitute the proof-of-concept data that will provide sound foundation for the optimization and development effort in Phase II.