Patent ID: 7749767

Claim:
A method for detecting the presence of at least one nitro compound in a medium, comprising: contacting said medium with a sensor comprising a substrate having two faces, wherein at least one of the two faces is covered with a sensitive material having at least one physical property which is modified on contact with nitro compounds, wherein said sensitive material is at least one polymer comprising at least one siloxane repeating unit corresponding to the general formula (I) below: in which: X and Y, which may be identical or different, represent a single bond or a saturated or unsaturated, linear hydrocarbon group containing from 1 to 50 carbon atoms; R 1 and R 2 , which may be identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom, a CN group, a group C(Z) 3 , CH(Z) 2 or CH 2 Z with Z representing a halogen atom; an NH 2 group, a group NHR 3 or NR 3 R 4 with R 3 and R 4 representing, independently of each other, a halogen atom, a methyl group or a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon chain containing from 2 to 20 carbon atoms and possibly one or more heteroatoms and/or one or more chemical functions comprising at least one heteroatom; on condition, however, that at least one from among R 1 and R 2 is not a hydrogen atom; or a composite comprising said polymer and one or more electrically conductive fillers, said sensor providing a first response when no nitro compounds are present in the medium and providing a second different response when at least one nitro compound is present in the medium, said second different response corresponding to a modification of the physical property of the sensitive material on contact with the nitro compound; measuring a change in the response of the sensor and correlating the change of response to the presence of the nitro compound in the medium.