Highly selective and sensitive chromogenic recognition of sarin gas mimicking diethylchlorophosphate

Abstract

The high-level toxic effects of organophosphate (OP) nerve agents severely threaten national security and public health. Generating trustworthy, accurate methods for quickly identifying these poisonous chemicals is urgently necessary. In this study, we have presented an azine-based colorimetric sensor (HBD) for the highly sensitive and selective identification of poisonous sarin gas surrogate diethylchlorophosphate (DCP). Our introduced sensor shows a purple color in contact with DCP, which is fully reversible upon the addition of triethylamine (TEA). The detection limit of our sensor for the toxic nerve agent mimic DCP is in the μM range. We have fabricated a test kit to verify the capability of HBD for on-the-spot identification of DCP to execute its practical use. To prove that HBD is an effective chemosensor, dip-stick investigation was conducted to detect DCP in the vaporous stage in the presence of different OPs, inorganic phosphates (IPs), and many other deadly analytes. A cellphone-based display method was also undertaken for on-the-spot recognition and measurement of DCP in isolated regions.