Technicolour breakthrough reveals hidden threats
Dstl scientists are in the early stages of devising an innovative colourless spray which reacts to chemical warfare (CW) agents by changing colour, clearly identifying surfaces which have been contaminated.
The colourless spray is non-toxic, containing a mixture of water, an oxidising agent and a chemical indicator. When the spray comes into contact with a CW agent, a reaction takes place which causes a change in colour. Once the CW agent has been revealed, the surface can be decontaminated.
The colour response to various different CW agents can be 'tuned' to help to distinguish it from a background colour, for example against camouflage paint. This ability to 'tune' the colour response means that it could potentially be used in a variety of situations.
Until now, there has been no reliable non-toxic system for identifying CW agents on surfaces, but the new system has the potential to help identify both the nature and the extent of CW contamination. In the future, this spray may avoid unnecessary decontamination in areas that have been affected by CW agents and as a result could have the potential to increase the speed and efficiency of operations.
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