Sensor network could detect trace quantities of explosives

The €4m (£3.49m) European Union (EU)-funded BONAS (Bomb Factory Detection by Networks of Advanced Sensors) project was brought about in response to the 2005 London bombings.

The partnership, led by the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, involves scientists from King’s College London, Queen’s University Belfast, the Scientific Police Institute at Lausanne University in Switzerland and the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation.

Anatoly Zayats, professor of biophysics and nanotechnology and project lead of the King’s team, spoke to The Engineer about the project.

‘The goal is to develop a network that will be based on different types of sensors — different technologies — and the data from these sensors will be cross-checked to avoid false alarms and to increase sensitivity.

‘There is no well-defined approach for this at the moment. The problem is that, even with big machines in airports, they’re just not sensitive enough to detect trace airborne particles.’

His team will use its expertise in a laser technique called Raman scattering, which can detect the ‘chemical fingerprints’ of compounds by observing small changes in the colour of light when it interacts with the chemical bonds.