Trace detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental waters by SERS

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are among the most hazardous pollutants and have attracted significant attention in the last decades. Up to now, rapid and on-site trace detection of PAHs remains a challenging issue. Here, taking advantage of the high sensitivity and reliable qualification of Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), we firstly carried out trace analyses of 16 typical PAHs in water at concentrations as low as 100-0.1 μg/L, depending on the number of aromatic rings of the molecule. Furthermore, owing to the simplicity of the liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) step, the sensitivity was further improved 2-3 orders of magnitude, and the lowest detectable concentrations were 100, 50, and 5 ng/L for anthracene, pyrene, and benzo[a]pyrene (the three PAHs typically found in heavily polluted waters), respectively. The LLE-SERS approach was successfully applied to the qualitative and quantitative analyses of different (ocean and coast) water samples being spiked by these three PAHs, which showed great promise as a trace detection tool of PAHs under water environments having different contaminant matrices.

Applications of SERS in the Detection of Stress-Related Substances

A wide variety of biotic and abiotic stresses continually attack plants and animals, which adversely affect their growth, development, reproduction, and yield realization. To survive under stress conditions, highly sophisticated and efficient tolerance mechanisms have been evolved to adapt to stresses, which consist of the variation of effector molecules playing vital roles in physiological regulation. The development of a sensitive, facile, and rapid analytical methods for stress factors and effector molecules detection is significant for gaining deeper insight into the tolerance mechanisms. As a nondestructive analysis technique, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has unique advantages regarding its biosensing applications. It not only provides specific fingerprint spectra of the target molecules, conformation, and structure, but also has universal capacity for simultaneous detection and imaging of targets owing to the narrow width of the Raman vibrational bands. Herein, recent progress on biotic and abiotic stresses, tolerance mechanisms and effector molecules is summarized. Moreover, the development and promising future trends of SERS detection for stress-related substances combined with nanomaterials as substrates and SERS tags are discussed. This comprehensive and critical review might shed light on a new perspective for SERS applications.

Synergizing the multiple plasmon resonance coupling and quantum effects to obtain enhanced SERS and PEC performance simultaneously on a noble metal-semiconductor substrate

Aiming to achieve the synergistic enhancement of the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) performance on a noble metal-semiconductor, such as Au nanoparticles (NPs)-TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TiO₂ NTAs@hybrid Au NPs), theoretical calculation and experiments are performed. Theoretical calculation indicates that both the SERS and PEC performance can be enhanced by coupling different sized Au NPs on TiO₂ NTAs based on synergizing the multiple plasmon resonance coupling and quantum effects. To further verify this mechanism, TiO₂ NTAs@hybrid Au NPs are assembled via synthesis of TiO₂ NTAs through the anodic oxidation process, followed by the deposition of different sized Au NPs onto the TiO₂ surface simultaneously using physical vapor deposition (PVD) in this work. Such substrates exhibit excellent detection sensitivity towards organic dyes including Rhodamine B (RhB), the organic herbicide dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and the organophosphate pesticide methyl-parathion (MP) with high reproducibility, stability and reusability. Meanwhile the PEC performance based on this substrate remains efficient compared with the reported results in the literature. The efficient PEC performance mainly originates from both the quantum effect of Au nanoparticles and the formation of a metal-semiconductor heterojunction. It is proposed that other noble metal-semiconductor complex nanomaterials can also obtain both enhanced SERS and PEC performance based on the above mechanism.

Au nanoparticle-modified WO3 nanoflowers/TiO2 nanotubes used for the SERS detection of dyes

WO₃ nanoflowers were successfully fabricated for the first time on a TiO₂ nanotube substrate via a hydrothermal method.

AuNPs/COFs as a new type of SERS substrate for sensitive recognition of polyaromatic hydrocarbons

A new SERS substrate was prepared via 1 min self-assembly of Au NPs to COFs for the sensitive recognition of PAHs.

Electrochemical detection of benzo(a)pyrene in acetonitrile-water binary medium

Electrochemical oxidation of adsorbed benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) on the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was explored in acetonitrile-water. When the GCE was incubated in 100 nM BaP acetonitrile-water (V(water):V(acetonitrile)=1:1) for 10 min at open circuit, and then transferred into blank acetonitrile-water (V(water):V(acetonitrile)=1:1, pH= 0.70) for differential pulse voltammetry measurement, a distinct oxidation peak at 0.98 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) was observed. The peak potential was about 180 mV lower than that in acetonitrile. Importantly, the peak current was more than 22 times greater. The effects of water on BaP preconcentration on the electrode and electrochemical oxidation were revealed, respectively. Based on the results, an electrochemical assay for BaP detection was developed. The GCE was respectively incubated in acetonitrile-water (V(water):V(acetonitrile)=1:1)with BaP concentration ranged from 0 nM to 1000 nM, and then transferred into the corresponding blank acetonitrile-water (pH= 0.70) for DPV measurements. When the BaP concentration was increased, an increased oxidative current at 0.98 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) was observed, and a detection limit of 0.67 nM was achieved. Because all other priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons could not be electrochemically oxidized at 0.98 V, the electrochemical assay showed very high selectivity to BaP. Finally, the developed electrochemical assay was successfully applied to determination of BaP in a series of real world samples, such as drinking water, tap water, lake water and river water.

Metal/Semiconductor hybrid nanostructures for plasmon-enhanced applications

Hybrid nanostructures composed of semiconductor and plasmonic metal components are receiving extensive attention. They display extraordinary optical characteristics that are derived from the simultaneous existence and close conjunction of localized surface plasmon resonance and semiconduction, as well as the synergistic interactions between the two components. They have been widely studied for photocatalysis, plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy, biotechnology, and solar cells. In this review, the developments in the field of (plasmonic metal)/semiconductor hybrid nanostructures are comprehensively described. The preparation of the hybrid nanostructures is first presented according to the semiconductor type, as well as the nanostructure morphology. The plasmonic properties and the enabled applications of the hybrid nanostructures are then elucidated. Lastly, possible future research in this burgeoning field is discussed.

Gold-decorated titania nanotube arrays as dual-functional platform for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

In this report, we demonstrate gold-decorated titania nanotube arrays (Au-TNA substrate) as a dual-functional platform for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI-MS). The Au nanoparticles are grown on the substrate using vapor deposition of Au. The resulting substrates perform better than Au colloids in terms of the reproducibility of the SERS measurements, long-term stability of the fabricated structures, and clean surface of the Au. The nanostructure of the Au-TNA substrate was designed to optimize the SALDI-MS and SERS performance. Excellent reproducibility of the SERS measurements using the Au-TNA substrate was obtained, with a standard error less than 6 %. SALDI activity was also demonstrated for the same Au-TNA substrates. Finally, the Au-TNA substrate was used for combined SERS and SALDI-MS analysis (i) to discriminate the structural isomers of pyridine compounds (para-, meta-, and ortho-pyridinecarboxylic acid) and (ii) to detect polycarbamate, a dithiocarbamate fungicide. These results are difficult to obtain using either approach alone.