Orthogonal dual signaling of chemical warfare agents using polydiacetylene/upconversion nanocrystals nanocomposites

Abstract

A polydiacetylene (PDA)/upconversion nanocrystals (UCNs) sensor system has been developed for selective dual signaling of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) gases, such as G-series nerve agent simulant and blood agent. Rationally utilizing the orthogonal reaction mechanisms of the G-agent simulant and the blood agent (ClCN), oxime and benzaldehyde modified diacetylene monomers capable of rapid recognition of CWAs gases were synthesized. A PDA/UCNs embedded fiber patch having dual signaling capability was realized by interweaving the color change of PDAs and the anti-Stokes shift based optical properties of UCNs. PDA/UCNs nanocomposites fiber patches selectively display blue-to-red color and yellow to red luminescence change upon exposure to CWAs gases. These results present a provisional design principle of a rapid and selective PDA/UCNs-based CWAs gas detection system that can be used at night.