Portable electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy system for routine spectroelectrochemical analysis

A simple, portable electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) system is reported, consisting of a small benchtop Raman spectrometer, a laptop computer, and a portable USB potentiostat. Screen printed electrodes modified with silver colloidal nanoparticles are used as the SERS-active electrode, which exhibit long-term stability once prepared. Spectroelectrochemical analyses of para-aminothiophenol and melamine as model systems was conducted. In both cases, an increase in SERS signal is observed upon modulation of the applied voltage, indicating an inherent benefit of such a system wherein the surface charge can be easily tuned. Given the low cost, rapid analysis time, and good sensitivity of this system, this simple setup could be implemented for many on-site sensing applications, ranging from food and drug analysis to environmental monitoring and to chemical and biological warfare agent detection.