Development of an explosive residue identification procedure for quantitative or instrumental analysis courses

CHED 229

Ian Sean Campbell, icampbell14@apsu.edu, Department of Chemistry, Austin Peay State University, Box 4547, Clarksville, TN 37044 and Carrie Brennan, Chemistry, Austin Peay State University, Box 4547, Clarksville, TN 37044.
A series of upper division undergraduate laboratory experiments for students will be developed to determine explosives used in criminal activities. Students will be given three samples of explosive residues that were retrieved from three separate “crime scenes” and brought back to the lab for testing. Researchers will be allowed two laboratory sessions to identify their compounds. Analytes used will be 2,4,6-trinitrotuloene (TNT), Dynamite, and RDX. During the first week, presumptive tests, including Greiss and diphenylamine, will be used on each compound to classify them into explosive categories, followed by analysis using thin layer chromatography. The next session, high pressure liquid chromatography and gas chromatography mass spectroscopy analyses will be performed for confirmatory identification. Researchers will make determinations based on their results about the identity of the explosive samples. This laboratory series will provide practical experience in standard methods of testing used by forensic laboratories worldwide.