Analysis of Post‐Blast Residues in Soil Sample by ¹H qNMR Spectroscopy

Abstract

Analysing active chemical components of explosives, propellants and post-blast residues have been challenging as it involves massive complexity. The increased use of energetics in various activities like military conflicts, terrorist's activities, and accidental explosions has made the task even more difficult for forensic scientists and environmentalists to analyse post-blast debris. The present studies reported the quantitative analysis of energetic materials present in post-blast soil by 1 H qNMR. The three methods have been used for quantitative studies, i. e. calibration curve method, co-axial stem insert method, and ERETIC method (Electronic to Access In Vivo Concentration). All three methods have been compared with the studies of post-blast residues of explosives such as PETN, Tetryl and TNT. The technique is selective, sensitive, rapid, reliable, and reproduce the result with good accuracy. The study merely requires a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (400 MHz or 500 MHz) as an instrument.