BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for tagging and authenticating bulk liquids. Specifically, the disclosure relates to methods, compositions and systems for selectively and specifically identifying bulk liquids as authentic using photoluminescent carbon nanostructures (PCNs) suspended in a continuous phase that is thermodynamically incompatible with non-polar bulk liquid and/or substantially low concentration of PCNs in either non-polar or polar bulk liquids; and incorporating the suspension into the liquid, wherein the suspension is incorporated at a concentration of continuous phase that is at least one of being below the solubility limit of the suspension's continuous phase in the bulk liquid and a concentration that cannot be observed unaided to the naked eye that is sought to be, tagged, identified and authenticated.

The adulteration, counterfeiting, tampering, unauthorized distribution and sale of working bulk liquids has emerged as substantial problems for both manufacturers and governments alike. Likewise, in assigning culpability for major spills or leaks from pipelines. The foregoing has created circumstances where identifying the source of the bulk working liquids and authenticating the source is essential to maintain the integrity of the supply chain of these bulk working liquids.

Tagging has been requested by manufacturers, distributors and governments alike in order to mitigate the aforementioned issues. Tagging can be done by for example, adding a colorant, a fluorescent compound, or other easily detectable markers.

However, certain liquids, for example, petrol-based hydrocarbons have high absorption and/or fluorescence at exactly the same range most of the fluorescent tagging markers' emission, while use of metallic quantum dots (e.g., cadmium) may be toxic and not cost effective in bulk liquids such as wines and olive oils, with yet other markers being incompatible with the bulk working liquid sought to be tagged.

These and other aspects are addressed by the following systems compositions and methods.

SUMMARY

Disclosed, in various embodiments, are system, compositions and methods for selectively and specifically identifying bulk liquids as authentic by tagging these bulk working liquids using PCNs suspended in a continuous phase that can be thermodynamically incompatible with the bulk liquid sought to be tagged in non-polar bulk liquids, identified and authenticated.

In an embodiment, provided herein is a method of tagging a liquid, comprising: providing a composition comprising PCNs suspended in a continuous phase having at least one of a limited solubility in the tagged liquid and substantially low concentration of PCNs; and incorporating the suspension into the liquid, wherein the suspension is incorporated at a concentration of continuous phase that is at least one of being below the solubility limit of the suspension's continuous phase in the bulk liquid and a concentration that cannot be observed unaided to the naked eye.

In another embodiment, provided herein is a method of identifying a tagged liquid, implementable in a tagged liquid wherein the liquid was tagged by incorporating a composition comprising PCNs suspended in a continuous phase having limited solubility in the tagged liquid at a concentration of continuous phase that is below the solubility limit, the method comprising: obtaining a sample of predetermined volume from the bulk liquid; admixing into the bulk liquid the continuous phase of the suspension to a concentration above the solubility limit of the continuous phase in the tagged liquid; partitioning the continuous phase from the tagged liquid; and detecting the fluorescent emission spectra of the continuous phase.

In yet another embodiment, provided herein is a method of identifying a tagged liquid, implementable in a tagged liquid wherein the liquid was tagged by incorporating a composition comprising PCNs at a concentration of between 8 ppb and 999 ppm, wherein the PCNs have at least two discrete peak emission wavelength, the method comprising: obtaining a sample of predetermined volume from the bulk liquid; detecting the fluorescent emission spectra of the bulk liquid with the PCNs; and subtracting the fluorescent emission spectra of the bulk liquid without the PCNs.

In an embodiment, provided herein is a system for authenticating a bulk working liquid, the system comprising a display, a fluorescence detector; a bulk liquid container; and a processing unit coupled to the fluorescence detector, with a processing module comprising a processor in communication with a linked library containing original emission spectra of at least one of: a specific wavelength, excitation and emission contour map, and absorption spectra, of a tagging PCN incorporated in authentic liquid sought to be authenticated; the processor further being in communication with a non-volatile memory having thereon a processor-readable medium with a set of executable instructions configured to: receive a fluorescence reading from the fluorescence detector; retrieve from the linked library at least one of a predetermined emission spectra at a specific wavelength, excitation and emission contour map, and absorption spectra; and if at least one of the emission spectra at a specific wavelength, excitation and emission contour map, and absorption spectra, retrieved from the fluorescence detector correlates with at least one of the emission spectra at a specific wavelength, excitation and emission contour map, and absorption spectra, retrieved from the linked library, authenticating the tagged liquid; else identifying the liquid as non-authentic.

These and other features of the systems, compositions and methods for selectively and specifically selectively and specifically identifying bulk liquids as authentic using PCNs suspended in at least one of a continuous phase that is thermodynamically incompatible with bulk non-polar liquid sought to be tagged, and PCNs having at least two discrete peak emission wavelength at a concentration in the bulk liquid of between 8 ppb and 999 ppm identified and authenticated, will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the drawings, which are exemplary, not limiting.

