Rapid and selective screening of wide range of improvised explosives

Description:

Explosive screening devices are not portable, hence expensive and time-consuming confirmatory analysis of collected samples are currently undertaken which requires advanced analytical skill to operate. In a pre-blast scenario, in highly populated areas such as airports, sporting arena, shopping malls and public transport centres, rapid and portable explosive screening is necessary in order to avert false positives from samples containing household substances. Amongst improvised explosives that could be home-made or readily accessed, all organic peroxide explosives (OPE) contain peroxy moiety which may originate from household hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Similarly, all cyclic nitramine (CNM) and nitroaromatic (NAM) explosives contain amine and/or nitro moieties, which may also originate from plant based fertilisers. An accurate and fast screening mechanism can differentiate the false positive from the real positive amongst the collected samples. Due to lack of reliable and rapid explosive screening mechanisms in pre-blast scenario to date, expensive and stationary detectors (such as ion mobility spectrometers or IMS) are employed on random sample collection basis at security heightened areas, which possess the risk of missing an actual positive sample. Additionally, the detection of a false positive sample might result in unnecessary consequences at critical facilities causing significant economic loss as well as social sufferings. Herein, we propose to develop an ultrafast, portable and inexpensive approach to positively identify wide range of explosive substances generated from real sources, thereby safeguarding and expediting mass movement of people.

In this project, we will explore the screening of degradable organic and inorganic explosives from household products in a simple, portable and rapid manner using microfluidic platforms. In addition to OPEs, we will aim to enhance the capability of the screening technique by introducing swabs of CNM and NAM explosives via acid and/or photo induced degradation in microfluidic platform. In this project, we will also aim to introduce pilot-scale implementation of the screening technique in presence of real-life human volunteers with a view to demonstrate the future commercialisation potential of the screening technology.

Desired Background:

Analytical Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Chemical Sciences not specified elsewhere.

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