A quick, accurate, and highly sensitive process to reliably detect minute traces of explosives on luggage, cargo, or traveling passengers has been demonstrated by scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The vapor detection technology accurately detects and identifies the vapors of even very low-volatility explosives in real time at ambient temperature and without sample pre-concentration.
Rather than searching for particle residue using a typical method like surface swipes or using pulses of air to dislodge particles for analysis, the system 'sniffs' directly for explosives vapors, much the way bomb-sniffing canines do.
Robert Ewing, PNNL senior research scientist, sees a bright future for the technology and is hoping to push the performance even further.
"Currently we have demonstrated the detection of explosive compounds such as RDX, PETN, nitroglycerine and tetryl, along with plastic explosives that contain these materials at low parts per quadrillion levels," said Ewing. "Future research will focus on detecting other explosive threats by manipulating the ionization chemistry and lowering detection limits."
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Also: Learn about the detection of chemical precursors of explosives.
