STTR Phase I: Nano-Porous Glass-Coated Amorphous Metal Wires for Integrated Solid-Phase Microextraction Devices

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will develop glass-coated amorphous metal (GCAM) fibers in which the glass coating is porous on the nano-scale level. Thermal treatments would be used to produce phase separation in the coating. The soluble component of the glass would be leached, leaving behind a porous skeleton of the non-soluble phase. The porous GCAM fibers will be employed as solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) devices for the sampling of analytes such as pharmaceuticals and biomolecules from liquid matrices and volatile organic compounds from gaseous matrices. The GCAM fiber is unique in that the metal core can be heated via magnetic induction, allowing for rapid heating of the porous coating and rapid analyte desorption. The commercial application of this project will be in industrial and environmental monitoring, and in various security applications. The proposed technology will facilitate rapid, in-situ release of key samples for analysis from monitoring devices following field collection and transfer to laboratory based equipment such as gas chromatographs. In contrast, current SPME devices require external heating to desorb the analyte.