Bio- and biomimetic sensors for the detection of explosives

从国家安全和法医学的角度来看，检测少量爆炸物是一个重要问题。已经开发了各种爆炸物检测方法。不幸的是，其中最灵敏的是速度相对较慢，需要的仪器过于复杂和昂贵，无法在现场使用。还应注意到，为了减少错误警报的数量，引入具有几种“正交”(即利用不同的物理、化学或生物原理)检测技术的系统将是有益的。因此，显然有必要继续开发新的爆炸物检测方法，最终目标是使其更快、更便宜、更敏感和更可靠。我们建议探索两种相互关联的方法来开发爆炸物传感器。在第一种方法中，使用了自然的光合作用反应中心；在第二种方法中，我们将利用这些反应中心的人工模拟。这两种方法都是基于炸药影响组成电路的复合体中的电子转移过程。虽然高分辨率光学/光谱方法(包括低温下的方法)将用于确定炸药/传感器相互作用的细节并优化传感器的设计，但最终的检测方案将是电化学的，将在室温下运行，不依赖复杂的仪器。支持组织及其合作伙伴实施此类传感器将为加拿大及其盟国带来经济和安全相关的好处。该项目的灵感来自于基于光合作用反应中心的廉价且敏感的除草剂生物传感器的最新开发进展，以及硝化炸药的化学结构和特性与此类生物传感器可检测的除草剂相似的事实。

The detection of small amounts of explosive materials is an important issue from the viewpoint of nationalsecurity and forensic science. Various methods for explosives detection have been developed. Unfortunately,the most sensitive of them are relatively slow and require instrumentation which is too complex and expensivefor use in the field. One should also note that for the purpose of reducing the number of the false alarms, itwould be beneficial to introduce systems with several "orthogonal" (i.e. utilizing different physical, chemical orbiological principles) detection technologies. Thus, there is an apparent need to continue developing newmethods of explosives detection, with the final goal of making them faster, less expensive, more sensitive andmore reliable.We propose exploring two interrelated approaches for the development of explosives' sensors. In the firstapproach, natural photosynthetic reaction centers are employed; in the second approach we will utilize theartificial mimics of these reaction centers. Both approaches are based on explosives affecting the electrontransfer processes in the complexes incorporated into electrical circuits. While high-resolution optical /spectroscopic methods (including those at low temperatures) will be used to determine the details ofexplosives/sensor interactions and to optimize the design of the sensors, the final detection scheme that will beelectrochemical in nature, will operate at room temperature and will not rely on complex instrumentation.The implementation of such sensors by the supporting organizations and their partners promises botheconomical and safety-related benefits to Canada and its allies.The project is inspired by recent progress in the development of inexpensive and sensitive herbicide biosensorsbased on photosynthetic reaction centers, and by the fact that the chemical structure and properties of nitricexplosives are similar to those of herbicides detectable by such biosensors.