Rising concern over the use of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) in criminal terrorist attacks has attracted a great deal of interest in having rapid, reliable and affordable methods for the detection of CWAs and their related degradation products.
Four ferrocene-amino acid / peptide conjugates, Fc-CO-Lys(Boc), Fc-CO- Leu-Lys(Boc), Fc-CO-Lys(Boc)-Leu, and (Boc)Arg(N02)-NH(CH2)4NH-CO-Fc were synthesized and used to modify acid-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes
(MWCNTs) chemically. Fc-conjugate-modified-MWCNTs were deposited on ITO surfaces as the
key component for electrochemical detection sensors for chemical warfare agent (CWA) mimics and their decomposed products in water. The electrical properties of the MWCNTs and Fc group were affected significantly upon the adding of CWA mimics to the system. In some cases, new peaks were observed at the presence of CWA mimics. Presumably, electrochemical changes are caused by the intermolecular interaction of the CWA with the peptide component of the sensors. This kind of electrochemical sensors were found stable and allowed trace-level detection of CWA mimics in aqueous solutions
