Multitarget gas alarm system for high-performance and anti-interference chemical warfare agents simulants detection

Chemical warfare agents (CWAs) can cause significant harm to health and even death in a very short time even when inhaled in small amounts (∼100 mg min/m3). Detection equipment based on conventional techniques, including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and ion mobility spectrometry, have the disadvantages of high cost, long detection time, and high power consumption. Rapid, portable, and convenient equipment for target CWAs detection under interference is a challenge. In this study, we propose an alarm system comprising a multitype micro sensor array and a field-programmable gate array-based readout circuit for CWAs simulants detection. Under common volatile organic compound, temperature, and water vapor interference, the proposed multitype sensor-based detection system realizes an alarm function in less than 20 s with thresholds of 1 ppm dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), 4.6 ppm 2,2′-dichlorodiethyl ether (DCE), and 20 ppm SO2. Furthermore, the proposed detection system was evaluated outside the laboratory and passed the wilderness test, demonstrating its reliability in the atmosphere. We believe that the proposed alarm system will contribute to the development of intelligent, portable, low-cost, and anti-interference CWAs detection technology.