Detection of Nitroaromatic Explosives Using a Fluorescent-Labeled Imprinted Polymer

摘要

Optical sensors have proven to be a useful method innidentifying explosive devices by recognizing vapors ofnexplosive compounds that become airborne and emanatenfrom the device. To detect high explosive compounds suchnas TNT, a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensingnmechanism was developed. This mechanism consists ofnMIP microparticles prepared using methacrylic acid asnthe functional monomer. The MIP microparticles are thenncombined with fluorescent quantum dots via a simplencross-linking procedure. The result is a highly robustnoptical sensing scheme that is capable of functioning innan array of environmental conditions. To study the sensingnmechanisms’s ability to detect nitroaromatic analytes, thenfluorescent-labeled MIP particles were tested for theirnperformance in detecting aqueous 2,4-dinitrotoluenen(DNT), a nitroaromatic molecule very similar to TNT, asnwell as TNT itself. These preliminary data indicate thatnthe system is capable of detecting nitroaromatic com-npounds in solution with high sensitivity, achieving lowernlimits of detection of 30.1 and 40.7 µM for DNT and TNT,nrespectively. The detection mechanism also acted rapidly,nwith response times as low as 1 min for TNT. Due to thenresults of this study, it can be concluded that the fluores-ncent-labeled MIP system is a feasible method for detectingnhigh explosives, with the potential for future use inndetecting vapors from explosive devices.