Discrimination of Five Classes of Explosives by a Fluorescence Array Sensor Composed of Two Tricarbazole-Nanostructures.

In this work, we report a two-member fluorescence array sensor for the effective discrimination of five classes of explosives. This smallest array sensor is composed of tricarbazole-based nanofibers (sensor member 1) and nanoribbons (sensor member 2) deposited as two film bands in a quartz tube. On the basis of a simple comparison of the resulting fluorescence quenching ratios between two sensor members and the response reversibility upon exposure to vaporized explosives, five classes of explosives can be sensitively detected and easily discriminated. This array sensor that has only two sensor members and no complex data analysis represents a new design way for discrimination of a broad class of explosives.