This paper reviews several modern decontamination methods for radiological and chemical warfare agents. For a better understanding of the interaction mechanism between the toxic agent decontaminant solutions, basic principles of decontamination were explained. Index Terms-Chemical warfare agent (CWA), radioactive warfare agent (RWA), decontamination, contamination, nuclear fallout I. INTRODUCTION The contamination consists in any form of undesirable toxic material that is accumulated, retained or deposited on surfaces, equipment, structures, large areas, and even on living beings, therefore it is limiting the personnel activities and usage of surfaces. After the contamination occurs, the surfaces of the materials and equipments become
In general, to achieve surface decontamination large amounts of water are used as the main solvent in universal decontamination solutions. The used water, in order to be released in the stream flow, must be treated to eliminate the toxic substances. Strippable coatings visibly minimize the amount of waste resulting from the decontamination process. Biodegradable films based on polyvinyl alcohol were synthesized and used within this study. The polymeric coatings also contains Bentonite nano-clay (BT) that is a rheological agent, a complexing agent used to entrap the heavy metal or radioactive particles and glycerol used as an additive to give the films the proper mechanical properties. Nevertheless, the used coatings must also be disposed of in a certain way. This paper studies few methods in which strippable coatings that are presented as chemical and/or radioactive waste are treated and proposes means to reutilize used films that are or/are not contaminated, but also suggests a simplified technological process for producing such decontamination solutions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.