Recent Advances in Electrochemical Sensors for Detecting Weapons of Mass Destruction. A Review

Abstract

1IntroductionChemical warfare agents (CWA) are toxic chemicals which have been deliberately used since World WarI [1]. Along with biological and nuclear threats;t hese weapons have become some of the most feared and least predictable mass destruction agentso nt he battlefield and in the hands of terrorists.A mong CWA, nerve agents,o ften organophosphates (OP), are ac lass of lethal weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that kill mankind by disrupting the nerve transfer mechanism [2][3].T he extreme toxicity of OP compounds is attributed to the inhibitiono ft he enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE)b yc ovalently blocking the active site of the enzyme which leadstoaccumulation of acetylcholine causing cholinergic over stimulation, culminating in death causedb yr espiratory failure [4].A n example of their potency, sarin was released by terrorists in aT okyo subways tation in 1995, resulting in more than 5000 humancasualties [5].Unfortunately,these highly adhesive and volatile nerve agents are colorless,o dorless and tasteless,m aking detection very difficult. Thed etermination of OP or nervea gents has become increasingly important for soldiers in war fielda sw ell as civilians due to the upsurge in terrorist activity [6].E arly detection of these noxiousO Pn eurotoxins is imperative for protecting water resources and food supplies,i nt he defense against terrorist activity,a nd for monitoring detoxification processes [6].C urrently,t here are many laboratory-based conventional analytical detection techniques for detecting OP compounds such as gas chromatography,h igh performance liquid chromatography,l iquidc hromatograph with mass spectrometer (LC-MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer [7][8][9][10].H owever, these techniques are time-consuming and expensive, non-portable and require aq ualified and experienced staff,a nd cannot be used for continuous monitoring [11][12][13][14].C onsidering the urgency of the situationt he CWAm ay cause,c ombatant therefore needs portable,e asiness of operation and ability to precisely detect thesea gents in real war field conditions.T he rapidd etection of WMD is also of pivotal importancet oh omelands ecurityi nt erms of responding to or recovering from the worst possible terrorist attack. Recent insights into the development of smart sensors and resultant analytical systems that are portable,l ightweight, accuratea nd low cost able to augmentt he use of these sensors onsite,t herebyp roviding added dimensions of rich,a nalyticali nformation to the combatant in at imely manner.T herefore,asimple and rapid yet reliable nerve agent detection warning system is critically desirable in the current climate of terrorism awareness.This review describes documented currentand developing technologies for electrochemical detection and identificationo fCWA and addresses the challenges associated with CWAd etection in complex sample matrices.H erein, we address sed about the electrochemical methodologies based on enzymatic and non-enzymatic principals for detection of nerve agents...

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