Hydrophobic substrate integrated SERS technology for rapid detection of uric acid

Uric acid (UA), the terminal metabolite of purine catabolism, is a critical biomarker requiring precise monitoring. Conventional detection methods (e.g., enzymatic assays, HPLC) suffer from limited sensitivity and operational complexity. To address this, we engineered four colloidal SERS substrates (Ag NPs, AuAg NPs, Au NPs, Au NRs) for signal amplification and fabricated hydrophobic surfaces via hydrochloric acid etching and evaporative deposition of heptadecafluorodecyl trimethoxysilane to minimize analyte dispersion. Integration of optimized Ag NPs with the hydrophobic substrate enabled quantitative UA detection by SERS. This approach achieves rapid (∼1 min), demonstrating significant potential for point-of-care UA monitoring.