Electrochemical Sensor for Explosives Precursors’ Detection in Water

Cloé Desmet, Agnes Degiuli, Carlotta Ferrari, Francesco Saverio Romolo, Loïc Blum and Christophe Marquette
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Cloé Desmet: Equipe Génie Enzymatique, Membranes Biomimétiques et Assemblages Supramoléculaires, Univ Lyon, Université Lyon1, 43 Bd du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
Agnes Degiuli: Equipe Génie Enzymatique, Membranes Biomimétiques et Assemblages Supramoléculaires, Univ Lyon, Université Lyon1, 43 Bd du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
Carlotta Ferrari: Institut de Police Scientifique (IPS), Université de Lausanne, Dorigny, 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland
Francesco Saverio Romolo: Legal Medicine Section-SAIMLAL Department, SAPIENZA University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena, 336, 00161 Roma, Italy
Loïc Blum: Equipe Génie Enzymatique, Membranes Biomimétiques et Assemblages Supramoléculaires, Univ Lyon, Université Lyon1, 43 Bd du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
Christophe Marquette: Equipe Génie Enzymatique, Membranes Biomimétiques et Assemblages Supramoléculaires, Univ Lyon, Université Lyon1, 43 Bd du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France

Challenges, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Although all countries are intensifying their efforts against terrorism and increasing their mutual cooperation, terrorist bombing is still one of the greatest threats to society. The discovery of hidden bomb factories is of primary importance in the prevention of terrorism activities. Criminals preparing improvised explosives (IE) use chemical substances called precursors. These compounds are released in the air and in the waste water during IE production. Tracking sources of precursors by analyzing air or wastewater can then be an important clue for bomb factories’ localization. We are reporting here a new multiplex electrochemical sensor dedicated to the on-site simultaneous detection of three explosive precursors, potentially used for improvised explosive device preparation (hereafter referenced as B01, B08, and B15, for security disclosure reasons and to avoid being detrimental to the security of the counter-explosive EU action). The electrochemical sensors were designed to be disposable and to combine ease of use and portability in a screen-printed eight-electrochemical cell array format. The working electrodes were modified with different electrodeposited metals: gold, palladium, and platinum. These different coatings giving selectivity to the multi-sensor through a “fingerprint”-like signal subsequently analyzed using partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Results are given regarding the detection of the three compounds in a real environment and in the presence of potentially interfering species.

Keywords: bomb factory; electrochemical array; explosive precursors; improvised explosives; partial least squares-discriminant analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A00 C00 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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