Carbon Nanomaterials Integrated in Rugged and Inexpensive Sensing Platforms for the In-Field Detection of Chemical Warfare Agents

Abstract

Fast, real-time and reliable detection of Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) is one of the most important challenges for our societies. The common techniques used to detect CWAs are expensive and require trained personnel, such as gas or liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry or ion mobility spectrometry. For that reason, a lot of research has been conducted in recent years to achieve low-cost and portable technology for monitoring the presence of CWAs in the local environment. According to reported results, carbon nanomaterials have been found to be promising sensitive materials due to their excellent electronic properties and high possibilities for being functionalized, decorated or modified, this achieving tailored surface chemistry. In this chapter we study the use of different carbon nanomaterials (carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon nanofibers and carbon black) to detect compounds with intrinsic potential to be used as a chemical weapon against military or civilian’s targets. The available technology usually employs chemiresistive, electrochemical, gravimetric and optical sensors to measure the concentration of CWAs at ppm or ppb levels in the environmental or in biological samples. The suitable detection of chemical agents employing inexpensive sensors constitutes an important strategy to enhance population security.