Inventors:
William C. Trogler - Del Mar CA, US
Jason Sanchez - San Diego CA, US
Sara Toal - Mission Viejo CA, US
Zheng Wang - La Jolla CA, US
Regina E. Dugan - Rockville MD, US
Assignee:
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - Oakland CA
International Classification:
G01N 33/52
Abstract:
A method of the invention is a method of detecting nitramines and nitrate esters believed to be present on a sampling substrate. In the method, a sampling substrate is exposed to a first reagent that is formulated to react with nitramine- and nitrate ester-type explosives to release nitrite. The sampling substrate is then exposed to a second reagent that contains an acid to react with the nitrite and a diaminoaromatic present in either the first or second reagent, to form a triazole that will luminesce. Another method of the invention combines this process for nitramine- and nitrate ester-based explosives detection with a technique to detect nitroaromatic-based explosives using luminescent polymers, for a three-step process for the detection of explosives in these three classes.