Adsorption characteristics of organic explosives compounds on adsorbents typically used in clean-up and related trace analysis techniques

Relationship between Structural Characteristics of Activated Carbons and Their Concentrating Efficiency with Respect to Nitroorganics

“…For nitrate esters, the usefulness of charcoal has been demonstrated. Quite satisfactory recoveries (up to 70%) have been obtained for ethylene glycol dinitrate, trinitroglycerin, and pentaerythritol tetranitrate on elution with methanol (7,8,11), isopropyl alcohol (12), and methylene chloride (13). However, a very low recovery (η) has been observed for nitroaromatics concentrated using charcoal (8).…”

“…Clearly, the effectiveness of the SPE technique depends strongly on the porous structure of the adsorbents utilized. For clean-up and enrichment of traces of nitro compounds and the products of their degradation, different adsorbents have been applied, such as silica (5), bound phases (C-18, C-8, C-2, phenyl, cyclohexyl, cyano, diol) on silica (6,7), resins (8)(9)(10), and carbonaceous materials (7,11). For nitrate esters, the usefulness of charcoal has been demonstrated.…”

Performance Evaluation of an In-Injection Port Thermal Desorption/Gas Chromatographic/Negative Ion Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometric Method for Trace Explosive Vapor Analysis

“…Volatile explosives can also be collected on adsorbent tubes from the rubble and debris at a bomb scene. Sorbents that have reportedly been used to collect explosives vapors include activated charcoal, , Tenax, ,,− Tenax-GC, Porapak Q, , Thermosorb/N, − Amberlite XAD-7, and silica . The most commonly reported method for removing the explosives from the sorbent bed is by washing with organic solvents.…”

“…The most commonly reported method for removing the explosives from the sorbent bed is by washing with organic solvents. Solvents that have been used to remove explosives from various adsorbent beds include methylene chloride, , acetone, propan-2-ol, , ethyl acetate, , methyl tert -butyl ether, methylene chloride/methanol mixture, − pentane, and pentane/methyl tert -butyl ether mixture …”

Forensic science

“…A single composite spectrum was generated to represent more than 1500 spectra from each pyrogram (345). Absorption characteristics as well as microcolumn recovery and cleanup procedures suitable for use with a variety of absorbents have been examined for a variety of explosive compounds (346,347).…”