1H-14N cross-relaxation in trinitrotoluene - a step toward improved landmine detection

Abstract

Motivated by the lack of efficient detection techniques for metal-free trinitrotoluene (TNT) containing landmines, 1H-14N cross-relaxation experiments on TNT have been performed using field-cycling spectroscopy in an electronically switchable volume coil. Using 1H NMR detection (indirect method), the 14N quadrupole spectra in several small (about 0.5 g) TNT samples of different producers are determined. The experiment is considered as a step toward a double resonance TNT landmine detection scheme using surface coils.