Detection of explosives in vapor phase by field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry with dopant-assisted laser ionization

Vitaly A Kostarev; Gennadii E Kotkovskii; Alexander A Chistyakov; Artem E Akmalov

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2022.123414

Detection of explosives in vapor phase by field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry with dopant-assisted laser ionization

Talanta. 2022 Aug 1:245:123414. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2022.123414. Epub 2022 Apr 7.

Authors

Vitaly A Kostarev¹, Gennadii E Kotkovskii², Alexander A Chistyakov³, Artem E Akmalov⁴

Affiliations

¹ Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, National Research Nuclear University, 31, Kashirskoe Sh., Moscow, 115409, Russia. Electronic address: vakostarev@mail.ru.
² Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, National Research Nuclear University, 31, Kashirskoe Sh., Moscow, 115409, Russia. Electronic address: geko@mail.ru.
³ Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, National Research Nuclear University, 31, Kashirskoe Sh., Moscow, 115409, Russia. Electronic address: chistaa@mail.ru.
⁴ Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, National Research Nuclear University, 31, Kashirskoe Sh., Moscow, 115409, Russia. Electronic address: akmalovtm@gmail.com.

PMID: 35487080
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2022.123414

Abstract

Detection of low-volatile explosives in concentrations below 10^-14 g/cm³ is a great challenge for portable ion mobility spectrometers (IMS) and field asymmetric IMS (FAIMS). We study the capabilities of FAIMS detector with ultraviolet laser ionization combined with organic additives (dopants) toluene and 1-methylnaphtalene to sense nitro-explosives: trinitrotoluene (TNT) and low-volatile cyclonite (RDX) and nitropentaerythritol (PETN). Differential mobility coefficients were measured for target ion peaks of TNT, RDX and PETN. Presence of dopants in the sample results in multiple growth of ion yield at laser intensities lower than 2 × 10⁷ W/cm². Limits of detection with dopant-assisted laser ionization were determined: 4.7 × 10^-16 g/cm³ for RDX and 9.8 × 10^-15 g/cm³ for PETN. Obtained results propose a way to further improve sensitivity of detectors along with improvement of portability of current laser-based FAIMS prototypes by using less powerful and smaller lasers.

Keywords: Dopants; Explosives detection; Field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS); Laser ionization.

MeSH terms

Explosive Agents* / analysis
Gases
Ion Mobility Spectrometry / methods
Lasers
Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate* / analysis
Trinitrotoluene* / analysis

Substances

Explosive Agents
Gases
Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate
Trinitrotoluene