Detection of Nitroaromatic and Peroxide Explosives in Air Using Infrared Spectroscopy: QCL and FTIR

Abstract

A methodology for processing spectroscopic information using a chemometrics-based analysis was designed and implemented in the detection of highly energetic materials (HEMs) in the gas phase at trace levels. The presence of the nitroaromatic HEM 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT) and the cyclic organic peroxide triacetone triperoxide (TATP) in air was detected by chemometrics-enhanced vibrational spectroscopy. Several infrared experimental setups were tested using traditional heated sources (globar), modulated and nonmodulated FT-IR, and quantum cascade laser- (QCL-) based dispersive IR spectroscopy. The data obtained from the gas phase absorption experiments in the midinfrared (MIR) region were used for building the chemometrics models. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used to generate pattern recognition schemes for trace amounts of explosives in air. The QCL-based methodology exhibited a better capacity of discrimination for the detected presence of HEM in air compared to other methodologies.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
May 07, 2013
Source ID
10.1155/2013/532670

Entities

People

  • John R. Castro-suarez
  • Leonardo C. Pacheco-londoño
  • Samuel P Hernández-Rivera

Organizations

  • United States Department of Defense
  • Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

Tags

Readers

  • Agricultural Chemistry/Soil Science
  • Electrochemical Engineering/ Fuel Cell Technologies
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • Directed Energy
  • Quantum Computing