Nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) is a radio frequency spectroscopic technique that can be used to detect solidstate compounds containing quadrupolar nuclei, a requirement fulfilled by most high explosives (and narcotics). In this paper, we present an overview of recent research in the detection of explosives using this technique. We also present mathematical models for the data for different ...

This study demonstrates the use of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to extract and pre-concentrate volatile signatures from static air above plastic explosive samples followed by detection using ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) optimized to detect the volatile, non-energetic components rather than the energetic materials. Currently, sample collection for detection by commercial IMS analyzers i...

The manufacturing of advanced explosives containing large amounts of metal powders to improve performance, such as PAX-3, have proven difficult to transition into production. Current manufacturing processes have had low yield which results in a high cost per unit and questionable product uniformity. Over the past year the Twin Screw Extruder (TSE) Team has been investigating the use of a TSE ma...

Ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) has been widely deployed for on-site detection of explosives. The common nitro-based explosives are usually detected by negative IMS while the emerging peroxide-based explosives are better detected by positive IMS. In this study, a fast polarity-switchable IMS was constructed to detect these two explosive species in a single measurement. As the large traditional ...