The development of inexpensive electrochemical sensors for both handheld use and deployment on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the detection of explosives will be reported. The prototype instrument is capable of performing time-resolved electrochemical measurements including cyclic square wave voltammetry using an embedded microcontroller with parts costing roughly $250 USD. The unit is demonstrated with an example library of cyclic square wave voltammograms of 12 compounds including 10 nitroaromatics, a nitramine (RDX) and a nitrate ester (nitroglycine) with a simple discrimination algorithm used for identification.<br/><br/>For the electrochemical determination of chlorate, a paper-based probe impregnated with a vanadium-containing polyoxometalate anion on screen printed carbon electrodes has been developed. A simple soil assay in which different soil types spiked with KClO<sub>3</sub> were directly added to the probe without any pre-sample preparation was tested. While this simple soil assay precluded quantitative analysis, a qualitative “yes or no” answer obtained with bulk powder on soil surfaces is adequate for UAV-based chlorate identification applications.

Electrochemical sensors for field detection of explosives

2019 Fall National Meeting

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