Application of Inkjet Printing Technology to Produce Test Materials of 1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5 Triazcyclohexane for Trace Explosive Analysis

Published

October 15, 2010

Author(s)

Eric S. Windsor, Marcela N. Najarro, Anna N. Bloom, Bruce A. Benner Jr, Robert A. Fletcher, John G. Gillen, Richard Lareau, Inho Cho, Mike Boldmand

Abstract

The feasibility of using piezoelectric drop-on-demand inkjet printing to prepare test materials for trace explosive analysis is demonstrated. Both pure high explosives and plastic-bonded putty explosives were formulated into inkjet printable solutions and jetted onto substrates suitable for calibration of the ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) instruments currently deployed worldwide for contraband screening. Gravimetric analysis, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) were used to verify inkjet printer solution concentrations and the quantity of explosive dispensed onto test materials. Reproducibility of the inkjet printing process for deposition of the explosive RDX (1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5 triazcyclohexane) was determined to be better than 2 % for a single day of printing and better than 3% day-to-day.

Citation

Analytical Chemistry

Volume

82

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

explosives, inkjet printing, ion mobility spectrometry, trace explosives detection

Citation

Windsor, E. , Najarro, M. , Bloom, A. , Benner, B. , Fletcher, R. , Gillen, J. , Lareau, R. , Cho, I. and Boldmand, M. (2010), Application of Inkjet Printing Technology to Produce Test Materials of 1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5 Triazcyclohexane for Trace Explosive Analysis, Analytical Chemistry, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=902979 (Accessed October 13, 2025)