They done XEDS maps and images with Scanning Electron Microscope which were done perfectly. The XEDS show the composition of the chips and displayed those elements it could detect. This should have been the first give away for them to go looking for a new hypothesis. The Aluminium spike in the red layer is tiny compared to other, far more abundant elements in the chips. Considering the Al mix to Fe2O3 to make thermite (1:3) the maximum possible thermite content of the chips is tiny.
Their next dead give away was when they had a look at their SEM images and reported on "thin sheet-like particles rich in Al and Si", particles which you can see clearly in the SEM images. They failed to recognise (or at the very least failed to report) that these sheets of Al/Si are Kaolin Clay plates, commonly used in the LaClede primer paint used on the floor trusses in the Twin Towers.
They find 4 chips which match the same results and labelled them (a)-(d). They then take a 5th chip, unlabelled, and soak it in MEK. This chip is not identical to chips (a)-(d). It shares similar properties in terms of the XEDS results, but shows spikes in several more elements. They claim the chip is "contaminated", in fact the chip is Tnemic Red 99, a common primer paint used on the WTC steel. This chip is subject to a DSC test, in which they cook it to 700C and react surprise when it catches fire.
The next failure occurs when they claim the DSC recorded energy density and reactions similar to samples of nano-thermite. This was an out right misrepresentation of the results. The spikes are nothing alike, and this becomes even more apparent when you add the zero line to their graph.
Thermite (red line) remains heavily endothermic until it burns much later than chip, creates a different reaction curve which peaks 100C higher, before dropping back to an endothermic reaction. It's not the same material. His own test shows this.
What's more damaging, is that one of his tests showed a reaction of over 7.5Kj/g. The paper even states very clearly that the maximum energy density of thermite can be no more than 3.9Kj/g. They say this, but do not realise the implications of it. What this means is that the reaction they measured was not from thermite. It cannot be from thermite. What the reaction was caused by was the combustion of the organic matrix of the paint. If they had performed their DSC in an inert atmosphere like Argon or Nitrogen, they could have avoided organic materials being measured because thermite is self oxidising. But they didn't. Even after they realised their results were far too high for thermite. This makes their definitive test almost entirely useless because they did not isolate the variables.
And before you go on the usual truther fail train of misunderstanding, higher energy density does not mean it is more explosive, or more thermitic.
Gun Powder - 3 Kj/g
Thermite - 3.9 Kj/g
TNT - 4.6 Kj/g
HMX - 5.5 Kj/g
Harrit et al Sample - 7.5Kj/g
Wood - 16.2 Kj/g
Sugar - 17 Kj/g
Animal Fat - 37 Kj/g
Jet Fuel - 42.8 Kj/g
The final icing on the cake is that the authors carried out better tests which allowed them to see the exact material the chips were made of. These TEM and FTIR tests are mentioned in the paper, with the note that they are to be released "later". That was 2009. Despite the repeated requests Jones has refused to release the data. Seem legit?...
But as of 2012 it is irrelevant. Dust samples tested through an independent lab found red/grey chips with the exact same XEDS maps as the Bentham (a)-(d). However, they carried out FTIR and TEM tests, and actually released the results. They found the plates of Al-Si which Harrit et al reported on were indeed plates of Kaolin Clay. The remainder of the chip was made up of an Epoxy Resin. The grey layer was carbon steel. The red/grey chips are primer paint coated on steel. What's more, it confirmed the Aluminium detected was chemically bound to the silicon. Thermite needs elemental Aluminium. It cannot react with Kaolin. The results show the chips did not contain any elemental Aluminium. No elemental Aluminium, No Thermite.
See for yourself:
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64959841/9119ProgressReport022912_rev1_030112webHiRes.pdf
Harrit et al paper is a scientific joke. Its tests were inconclusive and poorly executed. It excluded the results of key tests. It drew a conclusion which did not match the results. It published in an obscure paper by sneaking past the journals editor. The authors never attempted to push it into the mainstream limelight. Its conclusion has been scientifically refuted. And that is why it has never been picked up by mainstream media. It is nothing but pure conspiracy theory paranoia garbage.
