New Material for Raman Spectroscopy

1
New material for surface-enhanced Raman
Spectroscopy Advanced Fuel Research, Inc., East
Hartford, CT
Innovation The Company has developed a new
material to promote surface-enhanced Raman (SER)
scattering. The new material consists of silver
nanoparticles embedded in a porous sol-gel glass,
which increases Raman scattering by 1 million
times or more. This allows detection of chemicals
at physiological concentrations that would assist
in monitoring astronaut health.

• Accomplishments
•  
• The company has developed the new material into a
  product in just three years. The product "Simple
  SERS Sample Vials" consists of glass vials
  internally coated with the SER active material.
  This product provides molecular structure
  information allowing researchers to both identify
  and quantify chemicals at part-per-million to
  part-per-billion concentrations. The silver-doped
  sol-gel vials provide a number of advantages over
  previously developed SER active materials
• there is virtually no sample preparation
  required (samples do not have to pre-mixed,
  
• dried or dissolved in specific solvents or
  reagents).
• all common solvents can be used, including water
  from pH 1 to 10,
• signals appear in less than 1 second,
• the sol-gels are active for 1 year or more,
• the vials can be used with any commercial Raman
  spectrometer,
• and, most importantly, the SER activity can be
  duplicated from vial-to-vial allowing
• reproducible and quantitative measurements.

• Government/Science Applications
• The SER active sol-gels were developed for NASA
  to provide trace chemical analysis with potential
  applications for life support systems through
  continuous water quality monitoring and for
  astronaut health assessment through urine and
  blood analysis. The first published SER spectra
  of urine and several physiologically important
  chemicals strongly support the potential of
  developing a "Smart Toilet" based on this
  technology. Successful measurements of the DNA
  bases and many amino acids suggest employing this
  technology also for exobiology. The ability to
  measure extremely low concentrations of these
• bio-chemicals on Mars, Europa or one of several
  comets would enhance the search for
  extraterrestrial life. The SER active sol-gel
  material is currently being explored for a number
  of other trace chemical applications, including
• detecting and identifying chemical and
  biological warfare agents
• detecting and identifying chemical contaminants
  in water (groundwater and
• water supplies)
• detecting and identifying illicit drugs on
  surfaces
• identifying and quantifying new pharmaceuticals
  and metabolites
• identifying molecular structures in drug
  discovery
• detecting and quantifying bio-chemicals
  indicative of disease in urine

• Commercialization
• Our "Simple SERS Sample Vials" represent our
  first product employing the patent pending
  sol-gel coating. They were introduced to market
  in March at the Pittsburgh Conference and have
  generated 18 sales in the four months following.
  Vials have been sold to pharmaceutical and
  Biotech Companies, Government Agencies, and
  Universities. Advanced Fuel Research, Inc. has
  formed Real-Time Analyzers to market the vials
  and Raman spectrometers.
• AFR is pleased to announce that its commercial
  spin-off company, On-Line Technologies, Inc. is
  being acquired by MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ
  MKSI) in a merger worth more than 22 million.
  The merger agreement was signed on March 15, 2001
  and the transaction will close on April 27, 2001.
  The acquisition will provide the resources to
  continue development of On-Line's products with
  access to worldwide sales, distribution, and
  services.

Points of Contact - NASA Jane I Fox,
jifox_at_ems.jsc.nasa.gov - Advanced Fuel
Research, Inc. S. Farquharson 860-528-9806 1998
STTR Phase II NAS9-98024
Johnson Space Center Date of Update 05/01/01
Success Story 09-41