A facile solvent mediated self-assembly silver nanoparticle mirror substrate for quantitatively improved surface...

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) requires sensitive and reproducible substrates.
• Existing methods for fabricating SERS substrates can be complex or require specialized equipment.
• Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are known for their SERS capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a facile and reproducible method for fabricating a sensitive SERS substrate using silver nanoparticles (AgNPs).
• To investigate the performance of the fabricated AgNP mirror for pesticide detection.
• To demonstrate the practical applicability of the AgNP mirror in real-world samples.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of AgNP mirrors via a water-solvent interface assembly method using citrate-coated AgNPs and a mediating solvent mixture.
• Characterization of the AgNP mirror's structure and uniformity.
• Evaluation of SERS sensitivity and reproducibility using fonofos pesticide detection.
• Quantification of fonofos in food and beverage samples (apple juice, green tea).

Main Results:

• The AgNP mirror exhibited a uniform monolayer arrangement, leading to highly reproducible SERS signals (7.3% coefficient of variance).
• A low limit of detection (0.008 ppm) and high coefficient of determination (0.9981) were achieved for fonofos detection.
• The substrate demonstrated practical applicability with accurate quantification of fonofos in apple juice and green tea (105.06% and 106.16% recovery).

Conclusions:

• The solvent-mediated AgNP mirror is a simple, reproducible, and sensitive SERS substrate.
• This method offers a cost-effective alternative for fabricating high-performance SERS substrates.
• The AgNP mirror shows significant potential for rapid and accurate pesticide detection in various matrices.