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*STTR Project:  Carbon Nanofiber [F-18] Fluoride Ion Concentration for High Speed Biomarker Production—NanoTek, LLC, 217 FenceRail Gap, Walland, TN 37886-2510; 865-980-1916, http://www.nanotek1.com

Mr. Joseph Carl Matteo, Principal Investigator, jmatteo@nanotek1.com 

Ms. Debbie M. Matteo, Business Official, jdmatteo@direcway.com   

DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-05ER86255

Amount:  $99,364

Research Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge, TN

The DOE has expressed a need for developing tools that can improve and simplify production of radiolabeled compounds.  Conventional synthesis of PET radiotracers is hampered by the complex and sensitive synthesis processes that often produce low yields, consume costly precursors, and can take hours to complete.  If fluoride ion could be concentrated into microliter volumes of dry solvent quickly and efficiently, then specific activity could be increased and microfluidic devices could be used to synthesize radiolabeled compounds in less than one minute.  This project will develop a [F-18] fluoride ion concentration device that utilizes conductive carbon nanofiber arrays in a microfluidic chip.  The device will anodically accumulate and then release [F-18] fluoride ion at volumetric concentrations of 100:1, ten times greater than conventional techniques, while simultaneously transfering the material from an aqueous to nonaqueous environment in one step.  In Phase I, a prototype carbon nanofiber device will be developed and thoroughly tested hydrodynamically and electrochemically prior to cold and hot fluoride experiments.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:  The carbon nanofiber concentration device should enable researchers to use PET in both therapeutic and diagnostic drug discovery more easily and at a lower cost.  The carbon nanofiber device also may have ionic concentration applications outside of PET, enabling high speed, chemically inert ionic separation.