Ballesteros Rueda, Luz M.

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    Vibrational analysis of Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN) in soil particles
    (2006) Ballesteros Rueda, Luz M.; Hernández Rivera, Samuel P.; College of Arts and Sciencies - Sciences; Mina Camilde, Nairmen; Briano Peralta, Julio G.; Department of Chemistry; Morales, Jose P.
    The detection of explosive materials is important in the problem of landmines location and dismantling. It is also important in areas such global security, unexploded ordnance and Improvised Explosive Devices detection where explosives detection have played a central role in ensuring the safety of lives of citizens in many countries. Raman and Infrared Spectroscopy are powerful tools that can be used to characterize explosives such as Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate, commonly known as PETN, in its diverse forms revealing the different soil-energetic compound interactions and also can be applied in the field of explosives chemical point detection. The analysis of PETN is essential in the treatment of the well known plastic explosive called Semtex which is a formulation widely used by terrorists. The spectroscopic signature of the tetranitrate ester PETN is dominated by numerous bands from about 300 to 1700 cm⁻¹ that allow the determination of the presence of this explosive in soil. The spectroscopic signals of neat PETN and samples of PETN in Montmorillonite clay and Ottawa sand were determined with Raman Microspectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The investigation was focused in describing if the vibrational signals of PETN are perturbed by matrix effects when mixed with soil and when submitted to different ambient conditions such as acid and alkaline solutions, temperature, humidity and UV radiation. The results reveal that the characteristic bands of PETN are very persistent and are not significantly shifted under the conditions studied. Fingerprint vibrational bands of sand and clay were present in all spectra of the mixtures. These results will make possible the development of highly sensitive sensors for detection of explosives materials and IDEs.