Silver-coated zeolite crystal films as surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates

Silver-coated zeolite A and zeolite NaX crystal films prepared by vacuum deposition were investigated as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. The substrates were active for the enhancement of Raman scattering from uranyl ions. A detection limit of 10(-5) M for uranyl was obtained using silver-coated zeolite A films. One advantage of these zeolite-based substrates is that the negatively charged microporous framework provides the selectivity for adsorption based on static electric charges. The SERS effects of positively charged uranyl ions and neutrally charged benzoic acid were compared. For the zeolite A substrate, there was a 100-times-greater sensitivity.