Bioinspired and Flexible Amino Acid-Based Repairable Hybrid Architecture for Wearable Real-Time Sarin Simulant Detection

Abstract The reliable room-temperature (RT) detection of organophosphorus (OP) nerve agents remains a critical challenge for public safety, hindered by sluggish diffusion and poor adsorption affinity of targets like sarin (GB) and its simulant dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP). Here, by mimicking the structure and function of natural enzyme, we rationally designed a bioinspired, repairable hybrid architecture that achieves highly sensitive and selective RT detection of DMMP. Our design integrates a self-assembled porous L-cystine layer derived from a two-dimensional MoS2 modified with L-cysteine. This hierarchical structure uniquely enables a synergistic “recognition-enrichment-transport-sensing” cascade elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses and theoretical calculations: the porous layer enriches DMMP molecules and facilitates their diffusion to underlying MoS2 interface, where specific adsorption triggers significant electron transfer. The sensor demonstrates an ultra-low RT practical detection limit down to 10 ppb, along with fast response, excellent selectivity, and long-term stability. Furthermore, when integrated into a flexible wearable device, the sensor exhibits outstanding mechanical bending stability and easy repairability enabled by the reversible disulfide bonds, allowing for architectural reconstruction after damage. This work offers a promising biomimetic strategy to overcome the intrinsic limitations of OP sensing and paves the way for durable, RT-wearable detection technologies in practical security applications.