Platinum is an integral part of an innovative new system designed by scientists in the US that enables users to detect nerve gas.

Developers at the University of Texas at Austin have devised a sensor that is both accurate and reliable, even identifying a single molecule of the biological warfare agent sarin.

Writing in Applied Physics Letters, the scientists have outlined how the device functions.

Dr Li Shi, who led the team, said they created a nanoscale crystal of tin oxide, which is then placed between two electrodes.

The electrodes are made of platinum, with the tin oxide then reacting when certain gases are present, even in minute quantities.

The researchers reported excellent results from the device, which was deemed capable of recognising just 50 molecules of a comparable synthetic sarin agent out of more than one billion air molecules.

Dr Shi revealed that he used the methods traditionally incorporated in computer chip design and production to generate the platinum electrodes - known as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication methods.

Newswise reports that the scale of the components also means that the sensor could even be fitted as a wearable device, potentially functioning as a watch for use in the field.