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Detection of explosives using a hollow cathode discharge ion source
Author(s) -
Habib Ahsan,
Chen Lee Chuin,
Usmanov Dilshadbek T.,
Yu Zhan,
Hiraoka Kenzo
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.7142
Subject(s) - pentaerythritol tetranitrate , chemistry , trinitrotoluene , explosive material , ion , ion source , mass spectrometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , nox , ion mobility spectrometry , detection limit , chromatography , organic chemistry , combustion
Rationale For public security and safety, it is highly desirable to develop an ion source for the detection of explosives that is highly sensitive, compact in size, robust, and does not use any special carrier gases such as helium. In this work, a hollow cathode discharge (HCD) ion source was developed for the detection of explosives using ambient air as a carrier gas. Methods To detect nonvolatile and thermally unstable explosives with high sensitivities, a new HCD ion source was designed and coupled with an ion trap mass spectrometer. Results Five explosives – hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), 1,3,5‐trinitroperhydro‐1,3,5‐triazine (RDX), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), nitroglycerin (NG) and trinitrotoluene (TNT) – were detected with limits of detection of lower than ng. The intensities of the NO 3 – adduct ions with RDX, PETN, and NG showed a marked increase with increase in ion source pressure in the range of 1–28 Torr. Conclusions Because the major NO x – ions ( x = 2, 3) produced in the plasma act as reagent ions in ion‐molecule reactions of explosives, air is best suited as a carrier gas for the detection of explosives. It is proposed that the NO x – ( x = 2, 3) and O 3 contributed to the formation of [TNT–H] – and [TNT–NO] – ions, via the reactions NO x – + TNT → [TNT–H] – + HNO x and [TNT] – + O 3 → [TNT–NO] – + NO 2 + O 2 . Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.