NCJ Number
217220
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2007 Pages: 79-83
Date Published
January 2007
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This study sought to detect widely used nitroaromatic explosives [trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), and picric acid (PA)] by using photoluminescent metallole-containing polymers.
Abstract
The study found that the detection of nanogram quantities of these explosives was possible by using thin films of the luminescent polymers. Detection was achieved through luminescence quenching by the nitroaromatics. The polymers are photodegradable, however, so luminescence began to fade after a few minutes of continual ultraviolet exposure. Detection of the explosives was achieved immediately, however. In all cases, the detection limit of the explosives was as low or lower on the porcelain surface than on paper. This would be less problematic in real applications, since explosive traces are usually in the form of residual particulates transferred from the solid phase rather than by deposition from solution. Fluorometric detection is highly sensitive, and these polymers offer a method for detecting nitroaromatic explosives at detection limits lower than those obtained from performance evaluation tests that use the colorimetric detection system ExPray. Detection studies were performed at an explosive testing range in order to observe the behavior of this technology in experiments approaching what might be expected in the real world. The explosives available at the range were in their used form, rather than in their purified form as used in the laboratory studies. 1 table, 6 figures, and 22 references