U.S. flag
      An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
        Here's how you know
      Here's how you know**Official websites use .gov**
            
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
      **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            
            A **lock** (
            A locked padlock
            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Menu

      
        close

            
            
                                              About NIJ
        
                    
  
          About NIJ
      
    
          The NIJ Director
          How NIJ Is Organized
          Mission and Guiding Principles
          Research and Development Process
          Strategic Framework
          Assessments of NIJ
          Annual Reports & Reports to Congress
          Staff Directory
          Funding & Awards
        
                    
  
          Funding & Awards
      
    
          Current Funding
          Forthcoming Funding
          Expired Funding
          Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
          Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
          Fellowship & Student Programs
          Travel Scholarships
          NIJ Challenge Program
          Library & Multimedia
        
                    
  
          Library & Multimedia
      
    
          NIJ Journal
          Podcasts
          Publications Listing
          Multimedia Listing
          Rated Practices on CrimeSolutions
          Rated Programs on CrimeSolutions
          Software & Databases
          Datasets
          Patents
          Topics
        
                    
  
          Topics
      
    
          Article Listing
          Corrections
          Courts
          Crime Prevention
          Crimes
          Drugs and Crime
          Equipment and Technology
          Forensic Sciences
          Youth Justice
          Justice System Reform
          Law Enforcement
          Tribal Crime and Justice
          Victims of Crime
          Events
        
                    
  
          Events
      
    
          NIJ 2024 Research Conference
          Scheduled Events
          On-Demand Events
          Research Meetings & Workshops
          NIJ-Hosted Online Training

                            
                                About
          Contact Us
          Subscribe
          Topics A-Z
                  Share
FacebookXLinkedInRedditPinterestEmail Home
                            Funding & Awards
 Fast On-site Screening of Seized Drugs by Electrochemical and Spectroscopic Tools: Identification of Fentanyl and Novel Psychoactive Substances
Award Information
Awardee
              WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORPORATION
Award #
              2019-DU-BX-0030
Funding Category
              Competitive Discretionary
Location
                    MORGANTOWN, WV
Congressional District
              2
Status
              Past Project Period End Date
Funding First Awarded
              2019
Total funding (to date)
              $267,438
Original Solicitation
              Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes, FY 2019
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2019, $267,438)
Routine seized drug field testing uses color tests as presumptive identification of illegal substances. Instrumental analyses are then conducted at the laboratory to confirm the drug identity. As an attempt to speed up the process and compensate for the rapid increase of caseloads, several U.S. jurisdictions have accepted field test results at preliminary hearings. Nonetheless, the emergence of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) has brought additional challenges to color assays. Spot tests are not sensitive or selective enough to new drug formulations, increasing the number of false positive and false negative results, and not meeting legal standards for preliminary hearings. The consequences are overwhelming to the judiciary system as the number of cases that require laboratory testing increase backlogs and raise costs of analysis and incarceration. Moreover, fentanyl and novel fentalogs represent a safety concern to law enforcement personnel and first responders, as fatal-doses can possibly be absorbed through the skin or inhaled. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop alternative rapid, cheap, and reliable screening methods for in-situ drug identification.
The long-term objective of this project is to introduce smart and cost-effective portable instrumentation to integrate crime scenes with the forensic laboratories in real-time. The primary aim of this study is to develop and validate ultrafast screening methods that increase the reliability and productivity of drug identification. Powerful electrochemical (EC) techniques are presented as surrogate technologies to detect emerging drugs, like fentanyl and NPS, in drug trafficking and seized drug cases. Raman spectroscopy is proposed as an orthogonal approach to EC to enhance the scientific value of the evidence. Also, this study aims to evaluate chemometric tools for data mining of EC and Raman information for improved drug identification.
Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law, and complies with Part 200 Uniform Requirements - 2 CFR 200.210(a)(14).
CA/NCF



  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Targeted Fentanyl Screening Utilizing Electrochemical Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (EC-SERS) Applied to Authentic Seized Drug Casework Samples
                  Targeted Fentanyl Screening Utilizing Electrochemical Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (EC-SERS) Applied to Authentic Seized Drug Casework Samples
                  Evaluation and Classification of Fentanyl Related Compounds using EC-SERS and Machine Learning
                  Evaluation and Classification of Fentanyl Related Compounds using EC-SERS and Machine Learning
                  Transitioning surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) into the forensic drug chemistry and toxicology laboratory: Current and future perspectives
                  Transitioning surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) into the forensic drug chemistry and toxicology laboratory: Current and future perspectives
                  Fast On-site Screening of Seized Drugs by Electrochemical and Spectroscopic Tools: Identification of Fentanyl and Novel Psychoactive Substances
                  Forensic Identification of Fentanyl and its Analogs by Electrochemical-Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (EC-SERS) for the Screening of Seized Drugs of Abuse
                  Implementing Machine Learning for the Identification and Classification of Compound and Mixtures in Portable Raman Instruments
                  Screening of seized drugs utilizing portable Raman spectroscopy and direct analysis in real time-mass spectrometry (DART-MS)
                  Rapid determination of the 'legal highs' 4MMC and 4MEC by spectroelectrochemistry: simultaneous cyclic voltammetry and in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
                  Electrochemical detection of fentanyl with screen-printed carbon electrodes using squarewave adsorptive stripping voltammetry for forensic applications

  
Date Created: September 13, 2019
    
          Side navigation
  

        

  
  
              Current Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Forthcoming Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Expired Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
    
      
            
            
            
      Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
    
      
            
            
            
      Fellowship & Student Programs
    
      
            
            
            
      Travel Scholarships
    
      
            
            
            
      NIJ Challenge ProgramSimilar Awards
        
                      Policing Leadership and Accountability: Harnessing Big Data and Causal Inference for Evaluating Police Reform Practices
                  Experimental and numerical investigations for the development and validation of thermo-chemistry models and property databases for selected wall lining materials under fire exposure
                  Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Advance Transformative Credible Messenger Mentoring for Justice-Involved Youth of Color
 Top

      National Institute of Justice

        
        
                        About NIJ
                    About NIJ
      
    
                  How NIJ Is Organized
      
    
                  NIJ Director
      
    
                  Research Disclaimer
      
    
                  Funding & Awards
                    Funding & Awards Home
      
    
                  Awards Listing
      
    
                  Current Funding
      
    
                  Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
      
    
                  Resources
                    Events
      
    
                  Podcasts
      
    
                  Publications
      
    
                  Topics
      
    
                  Multimedia
      
    
                  Reuse Policy
      
    
                  Contacts
                    Contact NIJ
      
    
                  Staff Directory
      
    
                  Submit a FOIA Request
      
    
                  File a Civil Rights ComplaintFacebook
          
                      X
          
                      YouTube
  

      810 7th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20531
      
              Secondary Footer link menu
            Accessibility
              Plain Language
              Privacy Policy
              Legal Policies and Disclaimer
              No FEAR Act
              Freedom of Information Act
              USA.gov
              Justice.gov