Explosives detectionNew explosives detection based on micro- and nano-cantilever beam sensors
A team of engineers is investigating micro- and nano-cantilever beam sensors for explosives detection; micro- and nano-cantilever beam sensors offer a distinct advantage in that they are small, very responsive, and very sensitive; their sensitivity and selectivity can also be tuned by modifying the surface treatment
This month, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Naval Engineering Education Center heads south to check in on the progress being made on a collaborative project involving Tennessee State University and Florida Atlantic University where NEEC investigators and students are looking at ways to detect explosives using nano-sensor technology while protecting troops and saving lives.
Explosive devices, like Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), are responsible for a significant number of causalities to U.S. and NATO forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, according to a USA Today news story published last year, IEDs accounted for more than 40 percent of all deaths caused during the war in Afghanistan in 2010.
“Urban warfare has changed how we deal with wartime strategies,” says Dr. S. Keith Hargrove, the NEEC principal investigator on the project and dean of the College of Engineering at Tennessee State University. “Our NEEC research team is investigating methods to develop a new, improved, efficient way to detect explosives.”
According to Professor Malkani Mohan, a Co-PI on this project from Tennessee State University, “Detecting explosives is a challenging task, which is complicated by low vapor pressures, frequent introduction of new explosive compositions, and novel concealment techniques. Trace detection of explosives usually requires collecting vapor or particulate samples and analyzing them with a sensitive sensor system. Many different techniques are currently used but they are bulky, expensive and difficult to deploy.”
An NEEC release reports that this team’s collaborative approach is unique in that they investigate micro- and nano-cantilever beam sensors for detection. Micro- and nano-cantilever beam sensors offer a distinct advantage in that they are small, very responsive and very sensitive. Furthermore, their sensitivity and selectivity can be tuned by modifying the surface treatment.
The Naval Engineering Education Center (NEEC) is a consortium comprising fifteen institutions of higher education and two professional societies.
— Read more in “Nano-sensors for Explosive Detection – University Collaboration Addresses Challenges in Explosive Detection”
