Patent ID: 8810789

Claim:
A method of simultaneous analyte separation and detection in a sample, comprising: providing a SERS-active UTLC chip, wherein the SERS-active UTLC chip comprises an array of nanostructures on a surface of a substrate; applying at least one sample comprising at least one analyte to the SERS-active UTLC chip; acquiring at least one SERS spectra for each sample at a sample origin on the chip; immersing at least a portion of the SERS-active UTLC chip in a mobile phase solvent, wherein the at least one sample is above the mobile phase solvent; developing the chip so that the at least one analyte is physically separated; acquiring at least one SERS spectra for each sample along an UTLC development direction; and analyzing all of the SERS spectra to identify the at least one analyte in each sample.