Uncontactless detection of improvised explosives TATP realized by Au NCs tailored PPV flexible photoelectric Schottky sensor

Abstract

Triacetone triperoxide (TATP) is widely used in terrorist attacks because of its simple synthesis but hard to be directly detected. Herein, polyphenylene vinylene (PPV) derivative with the vinyl group on the side chain is cross‐linked by Au nanoclusters (Au NCs) to construct flexible Schottky sensors to arrange the uncontactless detection of TATP vapor. Experiments and simulations show that Au NCs generate a strong electromagnetic field with collective coupling which can effectively promote the photoinduced electron‐hole separation of the PPV and detection sensitivity to TATP. The simple fingerprint patterns can discriminate TATP from 2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4‐dinitrotoluene (DNT), p‐nitrotoluene (PNT), picric acid (PA), Hexogen (RDX), and tetryl by pattern to recognize inherent kinetics and thermodynamics of interaction between the sensors and specimen. The electron transfers from Au NCs to PPV after the adsorption of TATP molecules as the electronegativity of TATP is smaller than that of Au NCs and which is obvious in electron donating effect. Therefore, Au acts as a hole trap and reduces the hole concentration as well as restricting the carrier transport. However, the oscillator strength of the charge transferred from Au NCs to PPV simulation indicates that the role of Au NCs change from the hole trap to electron trap after adsorption of other explosives. Furthermore, the flexibility and stability of the sensor films are also demonstrated in this paper which is of great significance for the practical application of flexible electronic devices with high performance.

Tunnel junction sensing of TATP explosive at the single-molecule level

“…Lately, several nanotechnology-based solutions for the detection of TATP have been developed. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] They either detect TATP directly [12][13][14][16][17][18]20,21 or its precursors (hydrogen peroxide and acetone). 15,19 Only a couple of sensors offer contactless and continuous detection of TATP from the vapor phase.…”

“…15,19 Only a couple of sensors offer contactless and continuous detection of TATP from the vapor phase. 16,17 However, despite significant progress in novel TATP sensors, there are no reports on TATP detection at the single-molecule level.…”

Effects of Neutral, Anionic and Cationic Polymer Brushes Grafted from Poly(para-phenylene vinylene) and Poly(para-phenylene ethynylene) on the Polymer’s Photoluminescent Properties

“…Thus, simple molecular design considerations may not be enough to predict the resulting materials properties, where the optical and electronic properties are Polymers 2022, 14, 2767 2 of 13 dictated also by copolymer conformation that can be affected by even minute changes in the environmental conditions, such as temperature or solvent quality. Some conjugated polymers (CPs) have strong fluorescent properties and have been shown to be a useful material in optical sensing technologies [7][8][9], light emitting diodes [10] and solar cells [11,12]. Over the last two decades, research has emphasized how important the molecular conformation and molecule-molecule spacing and interactions are for the device's optical properties [13][14][15].…”

“…Some conjugated polymers (CPs) have strong fluorescent properties and have been shown to be a useful material in optical sensing technologies [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], light emitting diodes [ 10 ] and solar cells [ 11 , 12 ]. Over the last two decades, research has emphasized how important the molecular conformation and molecule–molecule spacing and interactions are for the device’s optical properties [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

PPV Nanotube Sensor Arrays for Explosives Identification by Excitation Wavelength Regulation

“…Our previous work has been achieved to detect TATP by using gold nanoparticles cross‐linked PPV film. [ 25 ] However, the stimulated electrons and holes of pure PPV recombine fast, resulting in a too short electron life and their being unable to effectively detect explosive vapor.…”