Detection of Explosives Vapors with a Portable Detector Based on Quartz-Crystal Microbalance

This paper presents the development of a portable gas sensor device prototype able to detect explosives vapors as 2,4 dinitrotoluene (DNT). This detector is based on a single polymer coated quartz crystal microbalance and an appropriate data processing implemented on a microcontroller. Several polymeric materials have been chosen and their sensitivity performances have been evaluated to determinate the most suitable material for DNT detection. This device offers a great sensitivity for DNT exposures (150 Hz/ppm), but this one is also selective towards interfering solvents exposures (< 1 Hz/ppm), independently from temperature and moist conditions.