Fast and direct detection of explosives using SICRIT-MS

The detection of explosives and explosive-related compounds is a high-priority tasks in recent years for homeland security and counter-terrorism applications. There has been a lot of research in the field of mass spectrometry regarding selectivity, sensitivity and portability.

The data presented in this applications note shows efficient and soft ionization of relevant explosives using SICRIT. These promising results suggest futher potential investigations regarding sensitivity in combination with MS systems for fast, mobile and in-field security applications. As some of the actual detection methods are struggling with a lack of selectivity and/or sensitivity, SICRIT may contribute to new sensor solutions in this field, based on soft ionization-MS.