This is part of a large part of a larger project to develop a method for measuring explosives in the field. Previous research has found that several explosive compounds are able to quench electrochemiluminescence (ECL) proportionally to concentration of the explosive, within an aqueous environment. The relationship between trinitrotoluene (TNT) and the luminescor luminol have been studied extensively within this branch of the project. Using a plate reader fluorimeter, preliminary studies were undertaken at a much higher pace than with electrochemiluminescence. In this study of fluorescence quenching, two independent linear relationships between quenching (I<sub>0</sub>/I-1) and concentration of TNT have been identified. One of said regions is at a relatively low concentration of TNT, as a linear relationship consistently appears lower than 40 µg/mL TNT, while another linear relationship consistently remains prevalent at a relatively high concentration, above 50 µg/mL. However, the overall observed relationship was not linear, with the two regions yielding very different slopes. Based on the current findings, further research will be undertaken to determine the relative impact of static and dynamic quenching. Exploration of the quenching of rubrene luminescence by TNT is underway, and will also be reported.

Study of fluorescence and electrochemiluminescence quenching of luminescors by explosives

2019 Spring National Meeting

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