Humanitarian demining requires a broad range of methodologiesand instrumentation for reliable identification of landmines,antipersonnel mines, and other explosive remnants of war (ERWs). Opticalsensing methods are ideal for this purpose due to advantages insensitivity, time-of-response and small form factor. In this work wepresent a portable photoluminescence-based sensor for nitroaromaticvapours based on the conjugated polymer Super Yellow integrated into aninstrument comprising an excitation LED, photodiode, Arduinomicroprocessor and pumping mechanics for vapour delivery. The instrumentwas shown to be sensitive to few-ppb concentrations of explosive vapoursunder laboratory conditions, and responds to simulated buried landminevapour. The results indicate that a lightweight, easy-to-operate, lowcostand highly-sensitive optical sensor can be readily constructed forlandmine and ERW detection in the field, with potential to aid worldwideefforts in landmine mitigation.
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