Zappalà Giulia, Dumont Elodie, Soufi Gohar, Molander Nora, Abbaspourmani Amirali, Asoli Damir, Andersson Per Ola, Rindzevicius Tomas, Boisen Anja
The Danish National Research Foundation and Villum Foundation's Center for Intelligent Drug Delivery and Sensing Using Microcontainers and Nanomechanics (IDUN), Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark.
BioInnovation Institute Foundation, Copenhagen N, 2200, Denmark.
Heliyon. 2024 May 31;10(11):e32181. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32181. eCollection 2024 Jun 15.
Nerve agents represent a serious threat to security worldwide. Chemical terrorism has become an alarming danger since the technological progresses have simplified the production of nerve agents. Therefore, there is an immediate demand for a fast and precise detection of these compounds on-site and real-time. In this perspective, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) has emerged as a well-suited alternative for on-field detection. SERS performances of unfunctionalized SERS substrates were evaluated in realistic samples. Two nerve agents, Tabun and VX, were diluted in two matrix models: a contact lens solution, and a caffeine-based eye serum. The performance two research-grade instruments and two portable devices were compared. Despite the use of a small sampling volume of complex matrices without any sample pre-treatment, we achieved Tabun detection in both media, with a practical limit of detection (LOD) in the range of 7-9 ppm in contact lens liquid, and of 10.2 ppm in eye serum. VX detection turned out to be more challenging and was achieved only in contact lens solution, with a practical LOD in the range of 0.6-5 ppm. These results demonstrate the feasibility of on-field detection of nerve agents with SERS, that could be implemented when there is suspicion of chemical threat.
神经毒剂对全球安全构成严重威胁。自从技术进步简化了神经毒剂的生产以来，化学恐怖主义已成为一种令人担忧的危险。因此，迫切需要对这些化合物进行快速、精确的现场实时检测。从这个角度来看，表面增强拉曼散射（SERS）已成为一种适用于现场检测的替代方法。在实际样品中评估了未功能化SERS基底的SERS性能。将两种神经毒剂塔崩和维埃克斯稀释在两种基质模型中：隐形眼镜溶液和咖啡因基眼血清。比较了两台研究级仪器和两台便携式设备的性能。尽管使用了少量未经任何样品预处理的复杂基质样品，但我们在两种介质中都实现了塔崩的检测，在隐形眼镜液体中的实际检测限（LOD）范围为7-9 ppm，在眼血清中的实际检测限为10.2 ppm。结果表明，维埃克斯的检测更具挑战性，仅在隐形眼镜溶液中实现了检测，实际LOD范围为0.6-5 ppm。这些结果证明了利用SERS现场检测神经毒剂的可行性，当怀疑存在化学威胁时即可实施。
