Sensitive Discrimination of Nerve Agent and Sulfur Mustard Simulants Using Fluorescent Coassembled Nanofibers with Förster Resonance Energy Transfer-Enhanced Photostability and Emission

Abstract

In this work, highly sensitive discrimination of nerve agent and sulfur mustard simulants is achieved by using photostable and fluorescent coassembled nanofibers from molecules 1 and 2. We demonstrate that the introduction of 2 as a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) acceptor not only enhances the photostability and emission efficiency compared to individual 1 nanofibers but also induces different binding interactions between analytes and 1-2 coassembled nanofibers and thereby distinct fluorescence quenching behaviors used for the discrimination of nerve agent and sulfur mustard simulants. Our findings represent an important advance toward sensitive detection and discrimination of chemical warfare agents (CWAs).