Alternatively for mipdatabase quick searches go here

Custom Search

Editors: Vo-Dinh T, Lieberman RA, Gauglitz G
Publisher: SPIE
City: Orlando, Florida, USA
Volume number: 7673
Conference information: Advanced Environmental, Chemical, and Biological Sensing Technologies VII

Abstract: The ability to detect high explosive compounds is a fundamental step in achieving the goal of creating devices capable of 'sniffing' out explosive devices. To detect high explosive compounds such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensor was developed. This sensor consists of MIP microspheres prepared using methacrylic acid as the functional monomer in a precipitation polymerization reaction. The MIP microspheres are then combined with fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals, or quantum dots, via a simple crosslinking procedure. To study the sensor's ability to detect nitroaromatic analytes, the fluorescent-labeled MIP particles were exposed to aqueous 2,4- dinitrotoluene (DNT), a nitroaromatic molecule very similar to TNT. Characterization of the MIP particles shows a uniform size distribution, with an average diameter of approximately 615 nm. Imaging of the particles also shows that spherical shapes are being produced by the precipitation polymerization reaction. Preliminary data indicate that the sensor is capable of detecting nitroaromatic compounds in an aqueous solution. These results illustrate the future application of the fluorescent-labeled MIP sensor for detecting high explosives, with the potential for use in detecting vapors from explosive devices and in an array of environmental conditions.
Template and target information: 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, TNT, 2,4-dinitrotoluene, DNT
Author keywords: molecular imprinted polymer, Explosives, sensor, fluorescent, quantum dot