Field Forensics microTLC™ Explosives Detection (TNT, PETN, & RDX)

This short demonstration is for the microTLC™ from Field Forensics, Inc., a leader in the field of explosives and illegal drugs detection. In this video clip, an analysis is done on suspected explosives materials (TNT, PETN, & RDX).
Fast, Easy TLC Analysis for Field and Laboratory Use:
Thin Layer Chromatography is ideal for rapid pre-screening and presumptive identification of unknowns. TLC analysis is inexpensive, practical and provides valuable chemical information including identification of compounds in a mixture and establishing the purity of a substance - forensics labs routinely use TLC for these reasons. The microTLC™ analyzes forensic and environmental samples to detect and identify explosives, illicit drugs, counterfeit medicines, insecticides, pesticides and other targets in samples taken from surfaces, liquids and solids - in the laboratory and in the field.
Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC):
Is used to separate mixtures of substances into their components. TLC is an analytical tool widely used because of its simplicity, relative low cost, high sensitivity, and speed of separation. TLC functions on the same principle as all chromatography: a compound will have different affinities for the mobile and stationary phases, and this affects the speed at which it migrates. TLC is used to identify a compound in a sample by comparing the distance the compound traveled with the distance traveled of a known compound (standard), run on the same TLC plate.