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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NanoScreen (Disruptive portable device for pre-screening of Persistent Organic Pollutants –POPs- in food products and water)

Teaser

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds produced by human action resistant to environmental degradation and whose bioaccumulative capacity and toxicity can cause harmful health effects e.g. cancer. Hence, they have become global threats for human and...

Summary

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds produced by human action resistant to environmental degradation and whose bioaccumulative capacity and toxicity can cause harmful health effects e.g. cancer. Hence, they have become global threats for human and environment. The most extended analytic methods used nowadays for detecting POPs are gas chromatography and/or mass spectroscopy to separate and identify them. These methods are expensive - €1,000/sample-, time-consuming -24h-, require a laborious sample preparation and a well-equipped laboratory. Consequently, there is a great demand to increase the number of water and food quality tests if available for a lower price and shorter time.

SAFTRA photonics will overcome these limits by introducing NanoScreen - a portable nano-optical sensing chip for pre-screening purpose that detects food or water contamination by POPs. We will offer a rapid method (10 minutes) to detect the most important POPs (ppb) present in food products and water, carrying out an in-situ analysis for less than 150€ per sample.

The patented technology can be customised for any organic molecule.

NanoScreen by SAFTRA photonics assures confidence for clean / drinking water on the side of producers and consumers at the same time. By using our patented water test calibrated for any organic pollutant, food and beverage producers are always in control of their water quality, either on input or output. It pro-actively saves reputation and avoids the cases of failure for any defined contamination. With NanoScreen, people are safer and more healthy in their daily lives as the precise quality control can be imposed to more sites, new regions, impact lifes of more people.

USPs:
* COMPACT - Substance in a holder can be used directly into water sample or source
* INSTANT - Result of analysis comes in minutes thanks to on-cloud computation
* SENSITIVE - Parts per billion (ppb) sensitivity with targeted selectivity
* LOW INVESTMENT into lab equipment - Supported Raman spectrometers available from € 15 000
* PATENTED technology for selective nano-surface can be customized for any organic molecule

Work performed

NANO-STRUCTURE SURFACE
The main objective of the WP2 in the first 12 months was to conclude the development of a portable nano-optical sensing device that detects if any food matrix or water is contaminated with pesticides, specially persistent organic pesticides (POPs) belonging to the organochloride family and other pesticides of common use in EU. The work included the adaptation of the main topics in Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), such as the Plasmon Technology and Hot Spots to the building of feasible sensing chips highly sensitive to pesticides.
The work developed in this period has been aimed at:
I. Technology of sensing chips preparation:
i) Synthesis and optimization of the sensing nanostructures
ii) Activation of the sensing nanostructures by means of Ag colloids (microchip configuration)
iii) Preliminary tests of pesticides in dry configuration
II. Tuning of the sensing chips for POPs detection

SAMPLE HOLDER
The multiplex sensing chips prepared in the WP2 must be protected aiming to facilitate an easy manipulation for the end user as well as guarantee their protection from impacts or accidental contamination which could impair the chip performance. For this reason, we developed a CAD design of the mechanical holder according to our specifications in order to achieve an international protecting marking of IP55 (IEC standard 60529). The prototype of the sample holder for precise and reproducible positioning of the chips into the one-box system was manufactured and tested. At the final stage the SERS chips prepared on silicon substrates will be supplied in plastic mounts that will be manipulated by an alumina holder. In connection with our decision to develop a one-box system, we have decided to develop a full service for our customers (see also paragraph 2 “Update..”), it means to offer them “full service” in measurement and evaluation of data. Thus, we have started to work on a development of the data analysis sw for our “one-box” Raman system.


COMMUNICATION
Communication activities were led in three directions:
1.Build the awareness of the company and its product NanoScreen – make it visible and recognizable for investors, potential employees and partners.
2.Build communication channels allowing two-way communication, scalability and exploitation.
3.Present the product value to target customer groups and strategic partners and gather their feedback.

One of the highlights of communication was the victory in Slovak Startup Awards 2017 - it is an annual competition for Slovak early-stage tech companies with global potential. The competition was a chance to present in front of hundreds of guests, including top investors, entrepreneurs and corporate executives at the final pitching event and award ceremony. The success was followed by certain media coverage and recognition in Slovak and Czech stakeholder community. It also led to several investment offers.

IPR, PARTNERING AND INVESTORS
IPR strategy was outlined in first months of the project giving a priority to patenting the Construction of pulsed laser multiplexing chip for pre-screening of analytes in environment, foods and biological systems and the method of its production. The patent was filed on 14th December 2017 under the number 127-2017 (Slovakia). It describes a portable nano-optical sensing chip based on plasmonic effects for pre-screening purpose that detects trace concentrations of molecules in the environment, foods and biological systems.

Also, business plan was updated and strategic partnerships were developed.

Final results

The project realization timetable and objectives fulfilment correspond to the project design. In addition to this, we have decided to extend our goals beyond the project objectives.
i) Our first contact with future customers at Asia Water Expo in Kuala Lumpur lead to a significant change in the strategy of the company development. Firstly we have realized that even if our chips are perfectly prepared for a defined analysis, different detection systems in different laboratories will give different results. This is why we have decided to develop our own detection system (see the section 3). Secondly, we have realized that there is a missing legislative concerning the POPs detection obligations in many countries. Thus, from the commercial point of view, POPs detection is not yet the best scenario for company development. With regards to this reality, we have to adopt our priorities. The priority has moved to other molecules interesting for our customers (trace quantities of drugs in water, different other pesticides, dioxins etc).
ii) Idea with the global water monitoring platform: Related advantage of our own “one box system” is a possibility to design future global water monitoring network and thus based our future business on data treatment and management. This our idea had very positive response on different forums where we have presented it. This is going to be further elaborated in Y2.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.saftra-photonics.org.