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Updated: Oct 30, 2025
A Filter-based Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopic Assay for Rapid Detection of Chemical Contaminants
Published on: February 19, 2016
Detection of trace mercury ions in water with a bovine-serum-albumin-modified Au@SiNWA
Chengshan Fan1, Xin Zhang1, Jia Meng Lv1
1Beijing Bioprocess Key Laboratory, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China. zhxin@mail.buct.edu.cn hjxu@mail.buct.edu.cn and College of Mathematics & Physics, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
Abstract:
Accurate detection of mercury ions (Hg2+) in water is of great importance for environmental protection. Here, a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor using bovine-serum-albumin-modified gold-silicon nanowire arrays (Au@SiNWAs) is used to detect the ions. The SiNWAs were grown via chemical etching; the addition of modified gold particles on the surface formed Au@SiNWAs to increase the surface activity. The Raman enhancement factor was as large as ∼2.52 × 105, which was also confirmed with finite-difference time-domain simulations. The detection limit for Hg2+ ions in water was as low as ∼10-12 M, which is much lower than that stipulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency's maximum residue requirements for drinking water. Furthermore, the SERS intensity was linear with the log of the Hg2+ concentration between 1 pM and 100 nM, with a correlation coefficient of 0.992. There was no significant interference when other metal ions were present, which shows the excellent selectivity of the SERS sensor. Unknown Hg2+ concentrations in water can be readily determined in an accurate and reliable manner, with a relative standard deviation of ∼9.21%.
