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Co-Self-AssembledMonolayer Enables Sensitive SERSDetection of Nanoplastics via Spontaneous Hotspot Entrapment
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Researchers developed a SERS detection strategy for nanoplastics using co-self-assembly of silver nanoparticles and nanoplastic particles into a monolayer, enabling 90% of nanoplastics in solution to transfer to the monolayer within 30 seconds and become uniformly entrapped in plasmonic hotspots. The method achieved quantitative detection of 80, 300, and 800 nm polystyrene nanoplastics in the range of 0.01-2 mg/L with a detection limit in the microgram-per-litre range.
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 10–2–2 mg/L for 80, 300, and 800 nm polystyrene (PS) NPs, with a low detection limit of 10–2 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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Co-Self-Assembled Monolayer Enables Sensitive SERS Detection of Nanoplastics via Spontaneous Hotspot Entrapment
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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.
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Researchers built nanoscale silver-silicon hybrid platforms that can detect polystyrene nanoplastics using a technique called surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. The platforms achieved high sensitivity with detection limits in the microgram-per-milliliter range. The technology offers a promising approach for identifying nanoscale plastic particles that are too small for conventional detection methods.
Size- and matrix-independent SERS quantification of polystyrene nanoplastics using interfacially assembled AgNPs@CTAB films
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Researchers fabricated a two-phase interfacially assembled silver nanoparticle SERS substrate that quantifies polystyrene nanoplastics across the 29–100 nm size range without size-dependent bias, achieving detection limits as low as 0.049 µg/mL with strong reproducibility across tap, river, drinking, and seawater matrices.
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Researchers developed a highly sensitive method for detecting nanoplastic particles using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) on a super-hydrophobic (water-repelling) surface that concentrates the particles into a small spot. The technique detected polystyrene nanoplastics at concentrations as low as 0.5 mg/L, far below what conventional approaches can achieve. Better detection tools for nanoplastics are urgently needed since these ultra-small particles are the hardest to find yet potentially the most biologically hazardous fraction of plastic pollution.
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Researchers fabricated a three-dimensional silver aerogel that simultaneously concentrates nanoplastics through evaporative enrichment and generates dense plasmonic hotspots for SERS detection, achieving limits of detection as low as 2.47 × 10⁻⁵ mg/mL for polystyrene particles ranging from 50 to 400 nm in both tap water and metal-impacted river water.
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