Detecting deadly nerve gas
A sensor which can rapidly detect the chemical nerve agent sarin has been developed.
The research is reported in the latest edition of the ÀË»¨Ö±²¥ journal Chemical Communications.
Sarin attacks the nervous system of humans and was used in the Tokyo subway terrorist attacks in 1995.
The poison - which is a liquid at room temperature - evaporates quickly to give a colourless, odourless, and deadly gas.
Professor Eric Anslyn and a team at the University of Texas have designed a molecule which reacts with a sarin surrogate - a chemically similar but safer proxy for sarin - in mere milliseconds.
Professor Anslyn said: "In today's political climate, the threat of terrorist activity is ever more prevalent - and the detection of chemical nerve agents is imperative.
"The sensor is able to give a fluorescent signal very rapidly, upon the detection of chemical nerve agents."
The new technique is much faster than other previous methods for detecting chemical warfare agents - which involve a slow reaction between the agent and an alcohol.
Professor Anslyn said: "The detection system used by the new sensor is much faster, with a reaction half life of 50 milliseconds."
The sensor is based on the dye molecule coumarin - which begins to fluoresce when reacted with the nerve agent.
Professor Anslyn and his team are now working on developing solid support materials to attach the sensor to, so that a device which can be used in the field can be produced.
with thanks to Alison Stoddart for the original article