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A visual assay and spectrophotometric determination of LLM-105 explosive using detection of gold nanoparticle aggregation at two pH values

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Abstract

We report a simple, rapid, and sensitive assay for visual and spectrophotometric detection of the 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105) explosive. The assay is based on different interactions between LLM-105 and gold nanoparticle (AuNP) dispersions at two pH values, leading to the formation of dispersed or aggregated AuNPs. Two AuNP dispersions at two pH values were applied to recognize and detect LLM-105 instead of traditional AuNP dispersion under an aptotic pH to improve the anti-interference ability. The developed assay showed excellent sensitivity with a detection limit of 3 ng/mL, and the presence of as low as 0.2 μg/mL LLM-105 can be directly detected with the bare eye. This sensitivity is about six orders of magnitude higher than that of the reported traditional assays. Additionally, the assay exhibited good selectivity toward LLM-105 over other explosives, sulfur-containing compounds, and amines.

A simple, sensitive, and selective assay for LLM-105 was developed based on the pH-dependent interaction between the LLM-105 explosive and gold nanoparticle dispersion

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Acknowledgments

Financial support of this work from the Foundation of Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province (Grant No. 2015JY0053), Doctoral Program of Southwest University of Science and Technology (Grant No. 14zx7165), and Teaching Reform Project of Southwest University of Science and Technology (Grant No. 15xn0077) is highly acknowledged.

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  1. Co-Innovation Center for New Energetic Materials, School of National Defence Science and Technology, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China

    Yi He & Yang Cheng

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  1. Yi He
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  2. Yang Cheng
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Correspondence to Yi He.

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He, Y., Cheng, Y. A visual assay and spectrophotometric determination of LLM-105 explosive using detection of gold nanoparticle aggregation at two pH values. Anal Bioanal Chem 408, 5551–5556 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9652-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9652-3

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