Reactive chromophores for sensitive and selective detection of chemical warfare agents

摘要

A new sensor for highly toxic species including chemical warfare (CW) agents has been developed. This sensor is based on a unique CW indicating chromophore (CWIC) developed by Professor Tim Swager at MIT. The CWIC was designed to be sensitive to the reactivity that makes these chemicals so toxic. Since it requires the reactivity of the agent to be detected, the CWIC technology has shown remarkable selectivity for nerve agent surrogates and some other highly toxic species, thereby demonstrating the potential to provide low false alarm rate detection. Since the chromophore has minimal fluorescence prior to reaction with an electrophilic and toxic chemical, the sensor acts in a dark field fluorescence mode. This provides the sensor with exceptional sensitivity and a potential to detect priority analytes well below levels detected by current hand held sensors. Finally, it is based on a simple optical detection scheme that enables small and rugged sensors to be developed and produced at a low enough cost so they can be widely utilized.