Smart hydrogel sensor for detection of organophosphorus chemical warfare nerve agents

A novel turn-off fluorescence, smart hydrogel sensor for detection of a nerve agent simulant has been developed and tested. The smart hydrogel chemosensor has demonstrated an extremely fast and select fluorescence quenching detection response to the Sarin simulant diethylchlorophosphate (DCP) in the aqueous and vapor phases. The fluorogenic sensor utilizes 6,7-dihydroxycoumarin embedded in an polyacrylamide hydrogel matrix as the fluorescent sensing material. The rapid fluorescence quenching of the smart hydrogel films could easily be observed with the naked eye using a hand-held UV light at = 365nm which demonstrates their practical application in real-time on-site monitoring.