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Co-Self-Assembled Monolayer Enables Sensitive SERS Detection of Nanoplastics via Spontaneous Hotspot Entrapment

Environmental Science & Technology 2025 10 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 58 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Xizhen Zhao, Xizhen Zhao, Qi Yuan, Qi Yuan, Qi Yuan, Qi Yuan, Yunqing Wang, Yunqing Wang, Yunqing Wang, Yunqing Wang, Yunqing Wang, Yunqing Wang, Yunqing Wang, Yunqing Wang, Yunqing Wang, Xizhen Zhao, Rongchao Mei, Yunqing Wang, Xizhen Zhao, Rongchao Mei, Xizhen Zhao, Qi Yuan, Yunqing Wang, Lingxin Chen Xizhen Zhao, Rongchao Mei, Rongchao Mei, Xizhen Zhao, Qi Yuan, Rongchao Mei, Rongchao Mei, Xizhen Zhao, Xizhen Zhao, Yunqing Wang, Jie Song, Lingxin Chen Rongchao Mei, Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Rongchao Mei, Xizhen Zhao, Yunqing Wang, Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Xizhen Zhao, Jiadong Chen, Yunqing Wang, Yunqing Wang, Xizhen Zhao, Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Yunqing Wang, Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Yixuan Wu, Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen Lingxin Chen

Summary

Researchers developed a new detection method that can identify and measure nanoplastics at concentrations as low as 0.01 micrograms per milliliter by trapping the tiny particles within a single layer of silver nanoparticles. The technique uses surface-enhanced Raman scattering, which amplifies the chemical signal of nanoplastics that are spontaneously captured in the detection hotspots. This approach offers a faster and more sensitive way to monitor nanoplastic pollution in water compared to existing methods.

Polymers

PE PET PMMA PS

Study Type Environmental

Identification and quantitative analysis of nanoplastics (NPs) in the environment are extremely challenging. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a promising technique, but conventional solid SERS substrate-based detection faces difficulties such as ensuring NPs make contact with hotspots, dealing with uneven particle distribution, and poor detection repeatability. Herein, we propose a simple and sensitive SERS detection strategy by co-self-assembling silver (Ag) nanoparticles and NPs in a monolayer. 90% of NPs in solution spontaneously transfer to the monolayer within 30 s. More importantly, a single NP can be uniformly entrapped in Ag nanoparticle SERS "hotspots", resulting in a significant enhancement of the intrinsic Raman signal. This enhancement enables quantitative detection in the range of 10<sup>-2</sup>-2 mg/L for 80, 300, and 800 nm polystyrene (PS) NPs, with a low detection limit of 10<sup>-2</sup> mg/L. The method allows for the identification of various plastic types, including PS, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyformaldehyde (POM). This method was used to determine the efficacy of NP generation from bulk PS foam through physical (sand friction) and biological (mealworm ingestion) routes. Moreover, NPs in real seawater collected from a rocky beach were quantitatively analyzed. The coassembly monolayer-based SERS detection provides a straightforward and sensitive technique for identification and quantitative analysis of NPs.

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