Explosive Sensor Could Have Major Impact on America's War on Terror

Paul Edmiston's sensor device can detect trace amounts of TNT.

WOOSTER, Ohio - A new explosive sensor could have a major impact on America's War on Terror. Paul Edmiston, associate professor of chemistry at The College of Wooster, has developed a sensor that can detect miniscule traces of TNT and other explosives. The significance of the sensor is that it can identify these explosive materials with perfect selectivity, meaning that its reliability is virtually flawless, even in environments where other chemicals are present.

Edmiston, who has been working on the project for almost four years, is now collaborating with several chemists and one engineer at Georgia Tech to harness the technology and develop a unit that could be used in airports, subways, sports arenas, convention centers, and other public venues. An $800,000 grant from the National Science Foundation made the collaboration possible and enabled Edmiston to expand the project.

"The group from Georgia Tech had a similar approach to measuring non-explosive materials," says Edmiston. "When we combined our sensor with their device, our results were 100 times better, so we decided to form a partnership."

The objective is to redesign the sensor platform so that it can be used to detect other substances, such as liquid-based explosives. The engineer in the group specializes in acoustics, and his role has been to agitate the molecules in, for example, a suspicious backpack so that the substances can be identified without being detonated.

The appeal of Edmiston's sensor is its reliability as well as its sensitivity. Current screening devices in airports, for instance, are not nearly as precise as the unit Edmiston has developed. "We have a very sensitive platform that uses a light source to produce wave guides," he says. "It is sophisticated but surprisingly inexpensive to construct."

Now that the technology is in place, Edmiston envisions future applications, including the precarious detection of landmines. "We are building 'noses' for other types of explosives," he says.

When complete, the sensor will likely resemble a household smoke detector with an even greater potential to save thousands upon thousands of lives.