Purdue University scientists have created battery-powered, miniature instruments that might be used in protecting against terrorist bombings.
The hand-held mass spectrometers are designed to be deployed in wireless sensor networks in such places as airports, subway systems and office buildings to detect minute traces of triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, which was used by terrorists in last year’s London subway bombings and is a common explosive found in improvised explosive devices.
It’s one thing to detect a substance, but it’s another thing to be absolutely certain of its composition, which is what you get with mass spectrometry, said R. Graham Cooks, a professor of analytical chemistry.
Purdue researchers will present a live demonstration of the miniature mass spectrometers Sunday, during the 57th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy.
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Mass Spectrometry
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Mass spectrometry is a precise technique used by NRC scientists to determine the presence, weight, composition and structure of a molecule, from illicit drugs to pesticides. Shown here (in silver) is the electrospray needle that introduces minute samples into the mass spectrometer. The golden dish (right) is the orifice plate, with the tiny one millimetre central hole through which the test sample passes. The sample emerging from the needle tip is dispersed as an aerosol of droplets. A gas, usually nitrogen, helps to direct the spray towards the mass spectrometer.
