Detection of Multiple Chemical Warfare Agents

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this Phase I STTR project is the development of an analytical method for the rapid detection of a variety of chemical warfare (CW) agents. A large number of methods have been used for the detection of CW agents, but they are generally not well suited for use under battlefield conditions, due to size, speed of analysis, power requirements or fragility. Even in fixed locations where these issues are not a problem, most analytical methods suffer from the problem that they can only detect chemical warfare agents that are expected. This is a significant problem in the case of the highly toxic nerve agents (e.g. Sarin), since minor variations in structure will still provide very effective killing agents that will not be detected simply because they are not common. The proposed detection system is designed to detect compounds that act as neurotoxic substances. This detection will be accomplished on the basis of their characteristic chemical reactivity. Sensor molecules will undergo chemical reaction with the nerve agents, and this reaction will be detected using surface enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy. The final detection system is expected to combine the desirable characteristics of rapid response, low cost and portability.