Forensic analysis of inorganic residues of improvised explosives from post-blast soil samples

In recent years, terrorist activities and bombing incidents that are widespread to specific region worldwide have generated the need for rapid investigation on postblast residues. The analysis of inorganic ions contained in homemade explosives and explosive residues in soils demands the rapid determ...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ong, Shin Tze
Format: Thesis
Published: 2010
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my-utm-ep.16434
record_format uketd_dc
spelling my-utm-ep.164342017-08-20T08:11:57Z Forensic analysis of inorganic residues of improvised explosives from post-blast soil samples 2010 Ong, Shin Tze Q Science (General) In recent years, terrorist activities and bombing incidents that are widespread to specific region worldwide have generated the need for rapid investigation on postblast residues. The analysis of inorganic ions contained in homemade explosives and explosive residues in soils demands the rapid determination and identification of explosives compounds and materials used to commit such unlawful bombings. In this study, anions and cations of interest for post-blast identification of homemade explosives were detected and identified using ion chromatography (IC). The postblast explosive residues were extracted from soil samples collected at the seat of simulated explosion point The homemade explosives comprised black powder of various amounts (100 g, 150 g and 200 g). The sample extracts were tested for five anions (Cl\ NC>2‘, NO3', SO42’, SOT) and four cations (Li+, Na+, NRT, KT). Two IC separations were employed, using suppressed IC on a Metrosep Anion Dual 2 column with carbonate eluent for anions, and non-suppressed IC for cations using Metrosep C4 column with nitric acid and dipicolinic acid as eluent. The detection limit for anions ranged from 0.1 - 100 ppb and 0.1 - 84 ppb for cations. All ions showed good linear calibration (rz>0.9326) over the range 1 to 5 ppm. Excellent reproducibility was achieved for within-day and day-to-day variation of target analytes. In black powder standard, three anions (C1' 5 NOi’, SC^2-) and two cations (Na~ and KT) were identified. An additional anion (NO2") was found present in postblast soil samples. The amounts of ions were found to be decreased with decreasing amount of black powder explosive used. By noting the presence of these ions, it was concluded that the explosive contained potassium nitrate which is a strong evidence for the use of black powder explosive in the improvised explosive device. 2010 Thesis http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/16434/ http://libraryopac.utm.my/client/en_AU/main/search/results?qu=Forensic+analysis+of+inorganic+residues+of+improvised+explosives+from+post-blast+soil+samples&te= masters Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Faculty of Science Faculty of Science
institution Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
collection UTM Institutional Repository
topic Q Science (General)
spellingShingle Q Science (General)
Ong, Shin Tze
Forensic analysis of inorganic residues of improvised explosives from post-blast soil samples
description In recent years, terrorist activities and bombing incidents that are widespread to specific region worldwide have generated the need for rapid investigation on postblast residues. The analysis of inorganic ions contained in homemade explosives and explosive residues in soils demands the rapid determination and identification of explosives compounds and materials used to commit such unlawful bombings. In this study, anions and cations of interest for post-blast identification of homemade explosives were detected and identified using ion chromatography (IC). The postblast explosive residues were extracted from soil samples collected at the seat of simulated explosion point The homemade explosives comprised black powder of various amounts (100 g, 150 g and 200 g). The sample extracts were tested for five anions (Cl\ NC>2‘, NO3', SO42’, SOT) and four cations (Li+, Na+, NRT, KT). Two IC separations were employed, using suppressed IC on a Metrosep Anion Dual 2 column with carbonate eluent for anions, and non-suppressed IC for cations using Metrosep C4 column with nitric acid and dipicolinic acid as eluent. The detection limit for anions ranged from 0.1 - 100 ppb and 0.1 - 84 ppb for cations. All ions showed good linear calibration (rz>0.9326) over the range 1 to 5 ppm. Excellent reproducibility was achieved for within-day and day-to-day variation of target analytes. In black powder standard, three anions (C1' 5 NOi’, SC^2-) and two cations (Na~ and KT) were identified. An additional anion (NO2") was found present in postblast soil samples. The amounts of ions were found to be decreased with decreasing amount of black powder explosive used. By noting the presence of these ions, it was concluded that the explosive contained potassium nitrate which is a strong evidence for the use of black powder explosive in the improvised explosive device.
format Thesis
qualification_level Master's degree
author Ong, Shin Tze
author_facet Ong, Shin Tze
author_sort Ong, Shin Tze
title Forensic analysis of inorganic residues of improvised explosives from post-blast soil samples
title_short Forensic analysis of inorganic residues of improvised explosives from post-blast soil samples
title_full Forensic analysis of inorganic residues of improvised explosives from post-blast soil samples
title_fullStr Forensic analysis of inorganic residues of improvised explosives from post-blast soil samples
title_full_unstemmed Forensic analysis of inorganic residues of improvised explosives from post-blast soil samples
title_sort forensic analysis of inorganic residues of improvised explosives from post-blast soil samples
granting_institution Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Faculty of Science
granting_department Faculty of Science
publishDate 2010
_version_ 1747815042079784960