Establishment of a Center for Development of Chemical Sensors for Explosives at University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez

摘要

DoD-UPRM-MURI grant: 'Establishment of a Center for Development of Chemical Sensors for Explosives at University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez' (Proposal No. 43567CHMUR; Agreement No. DAAD190210257) operated between 2002 and 2010. The project established a multidisciplinary research center for detection of land-mine explosives, focusing on spectroscopic signatures of land mines explosives and transport in soil, contributing to real time chemical sensing of land mines. Goals included: * Measurement of spectroscopic signatures of land mine explosives in soil; * Measurement of effect of environmental variables on explosives; * Studies of soil-explosives interactions: Raman and IR spectroscopies * Model transport behavior of explosives in soils under different environmental conditions. During the last 8 years of operation, the Center for Chemical Sensors Development (CCSD) studied the detection of high explosives and homemade explosives from near field under a microscope to far field at standoff distances. Research included synthesis and characterization of explosives: nitroaliphatic and cyclic organic peroxides. Studies also included transport of explosives in soils, both physical and mathematical modeling. The DoD sponsored research center has served to train and educate a significant number of students from BS to Ph.D. levels.