A visual assay and spectrophotometric determination of LLM-105 explosive using detection of gold nanoparticle aggregation at two pH values.

He, Yi; Cheng, Yang

We report a simple, rapid, and sensitive assay for visual and spectrophotometric detection of the 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105) explosive. The assay is based on different interactions between LLM-105 and gold nanoparticle (AuNP) dispersions at two pH values, leading to the formation of dispersed or aggregated AuNPs. Two AuNP dispersions at two pH values were applied to recognize and detect LLM-105 instead of traditional AuNP dispersion under an aptotic pH to improve the anti-interference ability. The developed assay showed excellent sensitivity with a detection limit of 3 ng/mL, and the presence of as low as 0.2 μg/mL LLM-105 can be directly detected with the bare eye. This sensitivity is about six orders of magnitude higher than that of the reported traditional assays. Additionally, the assay exhibited good selectivity toward LLM-105 over other explosives, sulfur-containing compounds, and amines. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

NANOPARTICLES; SPECTROPHOTOMETRY; AMINES; DETECTION limit; NANOSTRUCTURED materials; ANALYTICAL chemistry; SPECTRUM analysis

Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2016, Vol 408, Issue 20, p5551

1618-2642

Academic Journal

10.1007/s00216-016-9652-3