Quantitative SERS sensors for environmental analysis of naphthalene

In the investigation of chemical pollutants, such as PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) at low concentration in aqueous medium, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) stands for an alternative to the inherent low cross-section of normal Raman scattering. Indeed, SERS is a very sensitive spectroscopic technique due to the excitation of the surface plasmon modes of the nanostructured metallic film. The surface of quartz substrates was coated with a hydrophobic film obtained by silanization and subsequently reacted with polystyrene (PS) beads coated with gold nanoparticles. The hydrophobic surface of the SERS substrates pre-concentrates non-polar molecules such as naphthalene. Under laser excitation, the SERS-active substrates allow the detection and the identification of the target molecules localized close to the gold nanoparticles. The morphology of the SERS substrates based on polystyrene beads surrounded by gold nanoparticles was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, the Raman fingerprint of the polystyrene stands for an internal spectral reference. To this extent, an innovative method to detect and to quantify organic molecules, as naphthalene in the range of 1 to 20 ppm, in aqueous media was carried out. Such SERS-active substrates tend towards an application as quantitative SERS sensors for the environmental analysis of naphthalene.