Analysis Of Explosive Residues Using Capillary Electrophoresis

A capillary electrophoresis method was developed for the determination of explosive residue. UV detection was used for CE analysis of inorganic ions present in explosives, and MEKC was for analysis of organic explosive compounds. Various experimental conditions, such as the components and concentration of the buffer, the concentration of the electroosmotic flow modifier, the pH value and the separation voltage, were investigated to achieve efficient CE separation. Under the optimal CE conditions, four different inorganic cations, five inorganic anions and five neutral organic compounds were base-line separated within2,9and7min, respectively, with the limits of detection (LOD) in the range of0.028ppm-0.29ppm,0.086ppm-0.625ppm, and0.94ppm-1.85ppm, respectively, and the reproducibility (RSD, n=5) in the range of0.19%-5.19%,0.95%-4.0%, and1.38%-3.85%, respectively. The method was successfully used to determine the explosives in a real case. It was shown that the CE method, which has several unique advantages such as high efficiency and sensitivity, fast analysis, extremely low sample volume requirement, is a versatile and efficient method for analysis of explosive compounds.