Rapid SERS Quantification of Trace Fentanyl Laced in Recreational Drugs with a Portable Raman Module

Abstract

Rapid identification and quantification of opioid drugs are of significant importance and an urgent need in drug regulation and control, considering the serious social and economic impact of the opioid epidemic in the United States. Unfortunately, techniques for accurate detection of these opioids, particularly for fentanyl, an extremely potent synthetic drug of abuse and a main perpetrator in the opioid crisis, are often not readily accessible. Therefore, a fast, highly sensitive, and preferably quantitative technique, with excellent portability, is highly desirable. Such a technique can potentially offer timely and crucial information for drug control officials, as well as health professionals, about drug distribution and overdose prevention. We therefore propose a portable surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) approach by pairing an easy to perform yet reliable SERS protocol with a compact Raman module suitable for rapid, on-site identification and quantification of trace fentanyl. Fentanyl spiked in urine control was successfully detected at concentrations as low as 5 ng/mL. Portable SERS also enabled detection of trace fentanyl laced in recreational drugs at mass concentrations as low as 0.05% (5 ng in 10 μg total) and 0.1% (10 ng in 10 μg total) in heroin and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), respectively. Drug interaction with the nanoparticle surface was simulated through molecular dynamics to investigate the molecular adsorption mechanism and account for SERS signal differences observed for opioid drugs. Furthermore, resolution of fentanyl in binary and ternary opioid mixtures was readily achieved with multivariate data analysis. In sum, we developed a rapid, highly sensitive, and reliably quantitative method for trace fentanyl analysis by synergizing a streamlined SERS procedure and a portable Raman module at low cost.

Ultra-high SERS detection of consumable coloring agents using plasmonic gold nanostars with high aspect-ratio spikes

“…It is reported that the SERS signal can improve by aggregation of nanoparticles. [21][22][23][24] Unfortunately, this process affects batch-to-batch reproducibility of SERS measurements because of the uncontrolled aggregation of nanoparticles. 25 These limitations can be circumvented by developing a nanoparticle system that can generate ultra-high SERS signal without the addition of salts for weakaffinity analyte molecules.…”

Graphene-Based Electrochemical Sensors for Psychoactive Drugs

“…Conventional methods of drug analysis such as chromatography [2], immunochromatography [3], mass spectrometry (MS) [4], nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) [5], ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) [6], Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and IR [7], surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and Raman [8], circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy [9], and spectrofluorimetry [10], which can offer accurate and precise results, often lack portability, and can suffer from lengthy run times, high costs and complicated operation. Thus, new methods capable of providing rapid, specific responses whilst being cost effective and easy to use are still required [11,12].…”

A surface‐enhanced Raman sensor for trace identification and analysis of high‐priority drugs of abuse with portable and handheld Raman devices

“…It is worth mentioning that fentanyl was detected on a silver colloid at 5 ppb with a portable Raman system incorporating a 785‐nm laser. [ 20 ] A notable exception was the study using a gold sol–gel [ 28 ] that reported measuring over 150 drugs of various classes on a portable Raman system with 785‐nm laser excitation. However, the SERS reported for all these drugs (at 100 ppm in water) were summarized in a table, but only for a small number were the spectra shown.…”

“…One technology that offers great promise in overcoming such limitations is surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). SERS is versatile in its use and application and offers the ability to detect various drugs of concern at low concentration levels directly from surfaces, [9] as trace components in tablets or powders, [10] in wastewater, [11] and in biofluids, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] including saliva. [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] Additional studies have reported the SERS detection of a wide range of abused drugs in solution, [35] such as cocaine, [36] amphetamines, [37,38] ring substituted amphetamines, [39][40][41] bath salts, [42,43] opioids [21,35,[44][45][46][47][48] including drug mixtures laced with fentanyl, [49][50][51]…”

“…Of importance, there are now a number of studies reported that have incorporated portable and handheld Raman systems integrated with SERS sensors for detection of abused drugs. [10,20,28,52,53,61] In these prior studies, which used portable or handheld systems, the focus was in general limited to detection of various opioids such as fentanyl, related fentanyl analogs, heroin, and tramadol, primarily on silver substrates. It is worth mentioning that fentanyl was detected on a silver colloid at 5 ppb with a portable Raman system incorporating a 785-nm laser.…”