Non-invasive authentication of mail packages using nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy

Horace-Herron, Kelsey; Masna, Naren Vikram Raj; Dehghanzadeh, Peyman; Mandal, Soumyajit; Bhunia, Swarup

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-31497-9

Non-invasive authentication of mail packages using nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy

Journal Article · Tue Apr 04 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31497-9· OSTI ID:2470287

Horace-Herron, Kelsey ^[1]; Masna, Naren Vikram Raj ^[1]; Dehghanzadeh, Peyman ^[1]; Mandal, Soumyajit ^[2]; Bhunia, Swarup ^[1]

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

The international postal network is one of the most widely used methods for correspondence throughout the world. Most postal traffic across the globe consists of legitimate interpersonal, business-consumer, and business-business communications. However, the global postal system is also utilized for criminal activity. In particular, it is often utilized to ship and distribute contraband, including illegal psychoactive drugs such as fentanyl and heroin, to consumers. Existing technological solutions are capable of identifying synthetic opioids and other illegal drugs within packages, but are accompanied by several disadvantages that make them unsuitable for large-scale authentication of international mail traffic. This paper presents a novel method for non-invasive authentication of mail packages that overcomes these challenges. The approach uses nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spectroscopy to detect and quantify the presence of known active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) within the package. It has been experimentally demonstrated using a bench top prototype. Test results from a variety of package types demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed authentication approach.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 2470287

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 13; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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