Colorimetric Sensor Arrays for the Detection and Identification of Chemical Weapons and Explosives

ABSTRACT

There is a significant demand for devices that can rapidly detect chemical–biological–explosive (CBE) threats on-site and allow for immediate responders to mitigate spread, risk, and loss. The key to an effective reconnaissance mission is a unified detection technology that analyzes potential threats in real time. In addition to reviewing the current state of the art in the field, this review illustrates the practicality of colorimetric arrays composed of sensors that change colors in the presence of analytes. This review also describes an outlook toward future technologies, and describes how they could possibly be used in areas such as war zones to detect and identify hazardous substances.

KEYWORDS:

• Colorimetric arrays
• chemical detection
• explosives
• field testing
• handheld devices
• principal component analysis
• smartphone technology
• red green blue (RGB) analysis

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Laramie Jameson and Andrew Mattson for assistance in preparing the manuscript.

Funding

The authors are also grateful to the National Institute for General Medical Science (NIGMS) (5P20GM103427), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) NSF-EPSCoR-EPS-1004094, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation (AH-2015 Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award), and the US Army W911SR-15-C-0027 SBIR Phase I - Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) Reconnaissance Sampling Kit (A15-048).