SBIR Phase II: Novel Fluoropolymer Material

This Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to develop a novel material to enable improved performance of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Availability of this material could result in the manufacture of pollution monitoring, industrial process monitoring, and defense-related products for the identification and quantification of analytes of importance to these markets. Currently available Raman spectroscopy systems provide detection of a broad range of analytes and have met with commercial success but are limited in sensitivity due to the inherent weakness of the Raman scattering phenomenon. They are also limited in their ability to differentiate analytes in complex matrices. SERS offers a means of overcoming these limitations but has been plagued by poor repeatability and limited availability of suitable substrates. Suspending noble metal particles in an inert matrix could allow their functionalization for analyte sensitivity. The use of free floating and matrix-bound noble metal particles as SERS substrates has been demonstrated by other researchers but has not yet provided the reliability that is required for industrial and military applications. SERS has remained an "almost-commercial" technology for a number of years. It is believed that this material is a platform technology for the widespread investigation and commercialization. These enhancements and the increased understanding and control of the SERS effect provide should result in dramatic improvements in the sensitivity, selectivity, and cost of monitoring and detection systems for many Raman-active analytes of military and industrial importance.