Explosive compounds are able to quench electrochemiluminescence (ECL) in aqueous solution. In most cases, ECL is quenched proportional to the concentration of explosive, indicating that this is a promising avenue for crime scene analysis of the concentration of explosives in bomb residues. Our study focuses on investigating the quenching relationship between TNT and calcein blue, to discover if calcein blue might play a part in a larger-scale field-deployable device. The ECL of calcein blue was generated by applying a positive voltage to a platinum wire electrode in a pH 12.5 aqueous solution. The ECL was measured in a black box using a photomultiplier tube detector. Sequential aliquots of TNT were added to the solution in a continuous flow system. Our initial results demonstrate that, although calcein blue is a weak electrochemiluminescor, its ECL is quenched by TNT, and the quenching is proportional to the amount of TNT added.

Electrochemiluminescent quenching of calcein blue by TNT in aqueous solution

251st National Meeting (2016)

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