Forensic Investigation of Some Peroxides Explosives

Some of pe roxide s : t r i a c e tone t r ipe roxide (TATP) , hexamethylenetriperoxidediamine (HMTD) have been used recently as "irregular" explosives for delinquency and international terrorism purposes. The intimate knowledge of properties and methods of analysis of these substances is necessary for experts. Forensic investigations of some peroxides explosives: triacetonetriperoxide (TATP) and hexamethylenetriperoxidediamine (HMTD) were carried out in this work. The detonation process of peroxides initiation by means of pyroxylin layer ignition was investigated, velocity of detonation at apparent density (ρ HMTD = 0.38 g/cm3, ρ TATP = 0.47 g/cm3) was measured by means of a Russian fotoregister GFR-3. These data were compared with literature detonation velocity values that had been measured at larger densities. The values of detonation velocities complement each other rather well, linear dependencies of D vs. ρ found at densities ρ = 0.35-1.2 g/cm3. The high sensitivity of the investigated analytical methods, that were applied (10^-5 -10^<-8 g) facilitate the determination of possible times for finding traces of TATP after an explosion. Time t = 6 hours after explosion is the critical time for finding peroxides traces of TATP on a metal surface by means of analytical methods used in this work.