Trace Detection of Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate Using Electrochemical Gas Sensors

Abstract EN

Selective and sensitive detection of trace amounts of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) is demonstrated.

The screening system is based on a sampling/concentrator front end and electrochemical potentiometric gas sensor as the detector.

A single sensor is operated in the dominant hydrocarbon (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) mode by varying the sensor operating condition.

The potentiometric sensor with integrated heaters was used to capture the signature of PETN.

Quantitative measurements based on hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide sensor responses indicated that the detector sensitivity scaled proportionally with the mass of the explosives (10 μg down to 200 ng).

The ratio of the HC integrated peak area to the NOx integrated peak area is identified as an indicator of selectivity.

The HC/NOx ratio is unique for PETN and has a range from 1.7 to 2.7.

This detection technique has the potential to become an orthogonal technique to the existing explosive screening technologies for reducing the number of false positives/false negatives in a cost-effective manner.