Sensing and characterization of explosive vapors near 700 cm-1

One of the technological challenges associated with trace vapor detection of explosive materials are the relatively low vapor pressures exhibited by most energetic materials under ambient conditions. For example, the vapor pressure for TNT is similar to 10 ppbv at room temperature, a concentration near the Limit of Detection for many of the technologies currently being deployed. In the case of improvised explosive devices, the clandestine nature of the device further serves to exacerbate the vapor pressure issue. Interestingly, the gold standard in explosives detection remains the trained canine nose. While there is still some debate as to what the dog actually smells, recent studies have indicated the alert response is triggered, not by the vapor presence of a specific explosive compound but, by a characteristic bouquet of odors from chemical impurities used to manufacture and process the explosives. Here we present high resolution infrared data for several of these volatile organic compounds in the 700 cm(-1) region required for real time optical sensing of energetic materials.