Nerve gas detectionNew paper gas detectors developed

Researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, have developed a quick and simple way to detect the presence of nerve gases.

Troops currently deployed downrange lack an effective way to detect the fatal yet colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas. To help save lives by providing valuable advanced warning, researchers have designed paper strips that change color within thirty seconds of exposure to trace amounts of nerve gas.

“To detect these agents now, we rely on huge, expensive machines that are hard to carry and hard to operate,” explained Jinsang Kim, an associate professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. “We wanted to develop an equipment-free, motion-free, highly sensitive technology that uses just our bare eyes.”

The paper sensors rely on a group of atoms from a nerve gas antidote and a molecule that changes color when it is subjected to mechanical stress. In the presence of nerve gas, the antidote’s molecules bind with the nerve gas and the reaction causes the molecule to change color – blue to pink in this case.

In a laboratory setting, researchers tested their sensors using a less toxic nerve agent simulant related to Sarin gas. In their tests the sensors were able to detect as little gas as 160 parts per billion, an amount five times less than what is needed to kill a monkey.

Kim believes in real-world applications, the sensors will be even more sensitive.

“We believe these paper strips would detect real and potent nerve gases faster and in even lower concentrations considering their high vapor pressure and more volatile properties,” Kim said.

The researchers are currently filing for a patent on their technology and seeking commercial partners to bring the technology to market.