Detection of explosives by plasma optical emission spectroscopy

A new pre-concentration/separation system coupled to a micro-hollow glow discharge (MHGD) plasma detector is demonstrated for the analysis of explosives. The detector and spectrometer are miniaturized and field-portable. Separation eliminated air interferences while pre-concentration improved detect...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical Chemical, 2013-01, Vol.176, p.985-993
Main Authors: Fujiyama-Novak, Jane H., Gaddam, Chethan Kumar, Das, Debanjan, Vander Wal, Randall L., Ward, Benjamin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actuators
air
atmospheric pressure
detection limit
Detectors
DNT
Entrainment
Explosives
free radicals
Glow-discharge
Optical emission spectrometry
Optical emission spectroscopy
Plasma
Radicals
Separation
Spectrometers
spectroscopy
TATP
temperature
TNT
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Summary:A new pre-concentration/separation system coupled to a micro-hollow glow discharge (MHGD) plasma detector is demonstrated for the analysis of explosives. The detector and spectrometer are miniaturized and field-portable. Separation eliminated air interferences while pre-concentration improved detection limits for TATP (triacetone triperoxide) and DNT (dinitrotoluene). In the analysis step, a temperature ramp desorbed the two explosives into an entraining Ar flow. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was applied to detect the plasma generated atomic and diatomic radicals using a spectrometer at atmospheric pressure. For both test species, the detection limits reached values lower than 5ppb. The effect of an at-sea environment was also evaluated. Such a detector system is very promising for the detection of explosives due its small size, high sensitivity and selectivity.
ISSN:0925-4005
1873-3077
DOI:10.1016/j.snb.2012.08.063