Field Sensors for Detection of Airborne Toxins based on Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

在这个EPSRC工业案例学生项目中，目的是利用表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS)的光学技术来检测空气中的毒素。SERS是一种高灵敏度的分子指纹技术，它利用纳米级金属材料(通常是金和银)提供的增强作用，将原本很弱的拉曼信号增加一百万倍以上。南安普顿大学在SERS方面的专业知识将被用于开发SERS传感器，这种传感器可以检测空气中的化学和生物毒素。SERS传感器材料将被装载到空气过滤系统中，以检测此类物质。该项目的挑战将是为SERS开发低成本材料，并将这些开发转化为实地现场探测的能力。因此，该项目将有两个主要方面：a)开发适用于空气中化学品的表面增强拉曼光谱探测的(可靠的、可重复的)材料；b)建立一个预原型系统。该项目的成功实施将对环境和工业中的污染物威胁检测和监测产生广泛的好处。

In this EPSRC industrial CASE studentship project the aim is to harness the optical technique of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for detection of airborne toxins. SERS is a highly sensitive molecular finger-printing technique which utilises the enhancement provided by nanoscale metallic materials (typically of gold and silver) to increase the otherwise weak Raman signal by over a million times. The expertise in SERS at the University of Southampton will be utilised to develop SERS sensors which can detect airborne chemical and biological toxins. The SERS sensor materials will be loaded on to air filtration systems for detection of such substances. The challenge in this project will be to develop low-cost materials for SERS and translating these development into a capability for in-situ detection in the field. Thus, there will be two main strands in the project: a) development of suitable (reliable, reproducible) materials for SERS detection of airborne chemicals and the b) creation of a pre-prototype system. Successful implementation of the project will have widespread benefit in threat detection and monitoring of pollutants in environment and industry.