Hyperspectral depth-profiling with deep Raman spectroscopy for detecting chemicals in building materials

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Toxic chemicals in building materials pose long-term health risks.
• Early detection of latent chemicals is vital to prevent secondary damage.
• Conventional methods struggle with subsurface chemical identification and spatial information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an advanced spectroscopic technique for on-site detection of toxic chemicals in building materials.
• To overcome challenges in distinguishing internal chemical signals from background noise.
• To simultaneously acquire molecular and geometric information of subsurface contaminants.

Main Methods:

• Development of hyperspectral wide-depth spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (HD-SORS).
• Integration of a novel data processing algorithm for signal enhancement and analysis.
• Application of the technique to identify chemical warfare agent (CWA) simulants within building materials.

Main Results:

• Successful identification of toxic chemicals, including CWA simulants, within building materials.
• Demonstrated ability to distinguish target chemical signals from the surrounding material background.
• Accurate measurement of the spatial distribution of chemicals and building material thickness from 1D spectral data.

Conclusions:

• Hyperspectral wide-depth spatially offset Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool for on-site detection of subsurface chemicals.
• The developed method enables simultaneous chemical identification and spatial characterization.
• This technology offers a promising solution for assessing and mitigating risks associated with toxic building materials.