Engineering natural materials as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates for in situ molecular sensing

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful analytical tool. However, its applications for in situ detection of target molecules presented on diverse material surfaces have been hindered by difficulties in rapid fabricating SERS-active substrates on the surfaces of these materials through a simple, low-cost, and portable approach. Here, we demonstrate our attempt to address this issue by developing a facile and versatile method capable of in situ generating silver nanoparticle film (SNF) on the surfaces of both artificial and natural materials in a simple, cheap, practical, and disposable manner. Taking advantage of the high SERS enhancement ability of the prepared SNF, the proposed strategy can be used for in situ inspecting herbicide and pesticide residues on vegetables, as well as the abuse of antiseptic in aquaculture industry. Therefore, it opens new avenues for advancing the application prospects of SERS technique in the fields of food safety, drug security, as well as environment monitoring.