The application of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy in the detection of fentanyl and other NPS

The goal of this project is to develop methods for the rapid detection of fentanyl and other novel pharmaceutical substances using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. There has been increasing concern over the epidemic of overdose deaths due to fentanyl and its use in counterfeit pharmaceuticals.. Clandestine manufacture of fentanyl analogs has made the problem worse as simple tests such as immunoassays, may not detect the wide variety of drug analogs. Thus, there is a need for more rapid and selective methods for the detection of these drugs and their analogs. SERS has great promise in the field of drug analysis. In our research group, we have adopted nanostar-based colloids that when combined with various aggregating agents provide a rapid and highly sensitive method to detect these drugs. Portable Raman spectrometers are used in this work and can achieve sub-nanogram detection limits. Results demonstrating our approach for the detection of a variety of fentanyl analogs will be shown along with detection of these compounds in mixtures and seized drugs.