This research seeks to support reconnaissance efforts
against homemade
explosives (HMEs) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which are
leading causes of combat casualties in recent conflicts. The successful
deployment of a passive sensor to be developed for first responders
and military must take expense, training requirements, and physical
burden all into consideration. By harnessing the size-dependent luminescence
of quantum dots (QDs) being electrospun into polymer fibers, the authors
of this work hope to progress toward the development of lightweight,
multivariable, inexpensive, easy to use and interpret, field-applicable
sensors capable of detecting explosive vapors. The data demonstrate
that poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) fibers doped with Fort Orange cadmium selenide (CdSe)
QDs, Birch Yellow CdSe QDs, or carbon (C) QDs will quench in the presence
of explosive vapors (DNT, TNT, TATP, and RDX). In all cases, the fluorescent
signal of the doped fiber continuously quenched upon sustained exposure
to the headspace vapors. The simple method for the integration of
QDs into the fibers’ structure combined with their straightforward
visual response, reusability, and durability all present characteristics
desired for a field-operable and multimodal sensor with the ability
to detect explosive threats.