Detection of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) using a thermodynamic based gas sensor

Triacetone triperoxide (TATP) is commonly used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) due to its relatively simple preparation and readily available precursors. In this study, a small footprint gas sensor utilizing metal oxide catalysts was fabricated and tested, which is capable of detecting the heat of reaction during the catalytic decomposition of TATP. Due to its relatively high vapor pressure compared to other explosives, TATP is an ideal target molecule for this type of gas sensor. TATP and its decomposition products, hydrogen peroxide and acetone were successfully detected using this thermodynamic based sensor platform. Each tested catalyst exhibited a specific response at a given temperature and the detection limit of TATP was determined to be in the range of parts per million. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to study the oxidation state of selected catalysts prior to and after exposure to the target gases. Morphology of the catalysts in the as-deposited and tested condition was followed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).