Field-ready and rapid trace-level detection and speciation of arsenic in water

描述（由申请人提供）：饮用水中的砷已被证明是致癌的原因，并继续对美国和全球的人类和环境构成重大威胁。在49个州的饮用水中发现了砷，并在许多超级基金地点构成了主要污染物。这种无所不在的情况需要足够的监测设备，不仅要快速，而且要将实验室级设备的灵敏度和性能与测试套件的易用性和移动性相结合。OndaVia开发了一种使用表面增强拉曼光谱（Sers）的分析平台，用于水中痕量化学检测。该平台成功地证明了在加州净化现场对痕量高氯酸盐的可靠检测。OndaVia建议将其廉价、可现场部署和强大的解决方案用于超灵敏和快速的砷监测。这项新的创新，能够在ppb（十亿分之一）水平上对水中的砷进行形态和定量测量，将有助于减少砷暴露并促进预防砷引起的疾病。它将大大加强早期检测，帮助确定场地优先次序和消除污染 在这方面，我们将继续努力，提高中小型水系统的检测能力，并协助决策者填补水监管方面的空白。OndaVia的技术依赖于一种廉价的微流控芯片，该芯片嵌入金纳米颗粒，在微通道内形成一种坚固、可靠和有效的等离子体增强基底。在Sers中，当分析物相互作用或粘附到等离子体金属的表面时，获得增强。为了获得个位数ppb的砷检测，OndaVia建议嵌入新一代金纳米颗粒，专门用于砷检测。资金将用于合成，表征和优化创新的纳米粒子，使用实验室标准构建和校准新的基底，并最终量化和物种化现实世界的水样中的砷。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Arsenic in drinking water is a proven cause of cancer, and continues to pose a significant human and environmental threat in the U.S and globally. Arsenic has been found in drinking water in forty-nine States and constitutes a major pollutant in many Superfund sites. This omnipresence requires adequate monitoring equipment that is not only fast, but also combines the sensitivity and performance of laboratory-grade equipment with the ease-of-use and mobility of test kits. OndaVia has developed an analytical platform using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) for trace chemical detection in water. This platform successfully demonstrated reliable detection of trace- levels of perchlorate at a California decontamination site. OndaVia proposes to adapt its inexpensive, field-deployable and robust solution for ultra-sensitive and rapid arsenic monitoring. This novel innovation, capable of speciation and quantitative arsenic measurement at ppb (parts per billion) levels in water, will help reduce arsenic exposure and advance the prevention for arsenic-induced illnesses. It will critically enhance early detection, help site-prioritization and decontamination efforts, improve testing capabilities of small- and medium-sized water systems, and assist policy makers fill gaps in water regulation. OndaVia's technology relies on an inexpensive microfluidic chip that embeds gold nanoparticles to form a robust, reliable and effective plasmonic enhancement substrate within a microchannel. In SERS, enhancements are obtained when the analytes interact or adhere to the surface of the plasmonic metal. To obtain single-digit ppb detection of arsenic, OndaVia proposes to embed a new generation of gold- nanoparticles specifically designed for arsenic detection. Funding will be used to synthesize, characterize, and optimize the innovative nanoparticles, build and calibrate the new substrate using lab-standards, and finally quantify and speciate arsenic in real-world water samples.