A novel liquid crystal (LC) based sensor to detect trace level amount of hydrazine vapour has been developed. The LC 4'-pentyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (5CB) doped with 0.5 wt% 4-decyloxy benzaldehyde (DBA) shows dark to bright optical texture upon exposure of hydrazine vapours as revealed by polarizing optical microscopy under crossed polarizers. The hydrazine interacts with the doped DBA and form diimine compound which disrupt the orientation of aligned 5CB. The interaction between DBA and hydrazine has been also studied by Raman spectroscopy. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.