A Nanosensor Detects Nerve Gas Simulants in Model Public Water Using a Nano-Formulation to Preserve Integrity of the...

Nerve gases are the most lethal chemical agents for their toxicity, persistence, accessibility, and their recent use as a chemical warfare agent. While nerve gas agents are well known to be poisonous when inhaled, the toxicity of the agents in public water is equally harmful for their high-water solubility; however, they are less noticed in the contemporary literature considering their non-toxic hydrolysis products. Thus, contamination of public water by nerve gas can be a direct act of terrorism. Here, we have developed two strategies, namely detection of nerve gas simulator in public water with the limit of detection in the range of ppb (parts per billion) using a novel spectroscopic nano-sensor and collection of water samples which essentially retard the hydrolysis of nerve gases in the sample, assuring the concentration of the gases almost similar during the detection at a later date. We have shown that the second strategy (nanoformulation) can be effective by encapsulating the pollutant water into a suitable micelle, which prevents nerve-gas concentration loss through hydrolysis. We have developed an optical spectroscopy-based prototype for detecting nerve gas agents in public water and we have prepared a nano-formulation using a nontoxic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB).