Plasmonic nanomaterials for detection and degradation of pesticedes

Organophosphate pesticides are neurotoxic chemical compounds, widespread in the environment due to agricultural and domestic use.They are a major cause of cancer and some neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Their detection in food and in the environment requires complex and expensive equipment and highly specialized operators. This has sparked growing interest in developing multifunctional platforms that can both detect and detoxify these hazardous agents. In this work we present a Poly (dimethylsiloxane) - gold nanoparticles composite thin film for detection and degradation of organophosphorus neurotoxins.