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Study of thermal decomposition mechanisms and low-level detection of explosives using pulsed photoacoustic technique

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Abstract

We report a novel time-resolved photoacoustic-based technique for studying the thermal decomposition mechanisms of some secondary explosives such as RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine), picric acid, 4,6-dinitro-5-(4-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1H-benzo[d] [1–3] triazole, and 5-chloro-1-(4-nitrophenyl)-1H-tetrazole. A comparison of the thermal decomposition mechanisms of these secondary explosives was made by detecting NO2 molecules released under controlled pyrolysis between 25 and 350 °C. The results show excellent agreement with the thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TGA–DTA) results. A specially designed PA cell made of stainless steel was filled with explosive vapor and pumped using second harmonic, i.e., λ = 532 nm, pulses of duration 7 ns at a 10 Hz repetition rate, obtained using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. The use of a combination of PA and TGA–DTA techniques enables the study of NO2 generation, and this method can be used to scale the performance of these explosives as rocket fuels. The minimum detection limits of the four explosives were 38 ppmv to 69 ppbv, depending on their respective vapor pressures.

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Acknowledgments

We express our sincere thanks to Prof. F. Tittel and reviewers for their critical comments to improve the quality of the manuscript. We also express our special thanks to Dr. G. Manoj Kumar, Faculty, ACRHEM for extending help in proof reading and valuable suggestions for modifying the text. We gratefully acknowledge the Department of Science and Technology (SERC Project, No: SR/S2/LOP-13/03) and Defense Research Development Organization, India, for their partial financial support. One of the authors, F. Yehya, gratefully acknowledges ACRHEM, DRDO, Ministry of Defense, Government of India for partial financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Center for Research in High Energy Materials, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India

    F. Yehya, A. K. Chaudhary & D. Srinivas

  2. Department of Physics, Faculty of Education, Al-Baida University, 38018, Al-Baida, Yemen

    F. Yehya

  3. School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500046, India

    K. Muralidharan

Authors
  1. F. Yehya
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  2. A. K. Chaudhary
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  3. D. Srinivas
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  4. K. Muralidharan
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Correspondence to A. K. Chaudhary.

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It is to be noted that Our Centre named ACRHEM is an integrated part of the University of Hyderabad and funded by Ministry of Defense, Government of India, vide Project No. DRDO/02/0201/2011/00060 Phase-II, dated June 1, 2011. It has no conflict of interest.

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Yehya, F., Chaudhary, A.K., Srinivas, D. et al. Study of thermal decomposition mechanisms and low-level detection of explosives using pulsed photoacoustic technique. Appl. Phys. B 121, 193–202 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-015-6218-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-015-6218-6

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