Development of liquid explosive sniffing materials

Ancan (Alkane) liquid fuels are being targeted by terrorist groups to make bombs. The danger is that, until now, no effective equipment has detected this risk.

Handheld liquid detectors for liquid bombs and early warning of oil pipeline leaks and fuel tanks.

The gas produced by Alkane is odorless and colorless, so it can not be detected. Fortunately, a team of Utah University engineers has developed a new fiber for handheld scanners to help find Alkane 's presence, albeit at a very small scale.

This technology has a lot of applications. Not only does it detect liquid bombs, but it also develops early warning systems for oil leakage and fuel tank leaks.

The invention has been published in online magazines but at present it is not possible to develop a sensor that is small enough to be deployed in practice because the gas does not react at the chemical level. The only way to detect them is in the lab.

Thus, the University of Utah team developed a form of composite fiber with two nano electrodes to generate Alkane gas. The test kit has 16 sensors that detect a wide range of toxic gases in the air. The device could be deployed at the airport to detect liquid explosives carried by terrorists.