Year
1980
Abstract
A study of predetonation detection of high explosives (HE) vapor by chemical means has been initiated and the first part completed. Our research has been centered on chemically coupling the photolysis products of HE to the luminol chemiluminescence reaction and the use of a micellized solvent as a gas sampling medium. Our accomplishments to date include: 1) Characterization of the quantum yield of photolysis of TNT, HMX, and NQ in a simple solvent such as acetonitrile; 2) Characterization of the quantum yield of photolysis of TNT, HMX, and NQ in two different micellar systems, sodium dodecyl sulfate and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide in water. 3) Success in coupling TNT, HMX, and NQ to the luminol reaction where the amount of HE detected was approximately 10~9 moles, without optimization. 4) Developed methods for purification of the HE used as well as analytical methods for their analysis in both the photolyzed and unphotolyzed state.