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Addressing SERS challenges of nanoplastics with vertical plasmonic substrates
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Scientists have created a new gold-coated nanostructure, tiny vertical walls with precise gaps between them, that can trap ultra-small plastic particles (100 nanometers or smaller) and make them far easier to detect using a laser-based technique. This matters because these ultra-tiny nanoplastics are among the hardest pollutants to find in water, food, or even our bodies, and better detection tools are a key step toward understanding how much of this pollution we're actually exposed to and what it might mean for our health.
Nanoplastics, an increasingly concerning environmental pollutant, are extremely difficult to detect using conventional analytical techniques. Many methods fail in this regard, but surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) offers a promising solution by utilising specialised nanostructures that amplify signals. In this study, we build upon previous nanoparticle-based advancements by introducing grating-like 2D carbon nanowalls with controlled spacing. When coated with a thin gold layer, this network of vertically aligned nanowalls demonstrates high SERS signal enhancement and stability, with measured values fluctuating only within a few per cent (RSD⁓5%). This performance surpasses that of randomly assembled nanoparticle substrates reported in the state-of-the-art and other 3D substrates tested in this study, such as branched carbon nanotubes and vertically aligned carbon nanocones. Our primary objective was to demonstrate that the detection case “particle between the walls:” generates a signal up to an order of magnitude higher than the detection “on top of the ridges”. These results emphasise the importance of near-field enhancements when the investigated particles are in the proximity of hot junctions with confined electric fields. Finally, the vertical nanostructures that allow the trapping of particles between the walls reveal great promise for identifying ultra-small nanoplastics (100 nm and below) using SERS.
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Scientists developed a highly sensitive sensor that can detect tiny plastic particles (nanoplastics) in river water and fish, even at very low, trace amounts. By pairing a specially designed surface that traps these particles with AI that reads their unique light signatures, the tool could help track how much plastic pollution is ending up in our food and water supply—an important step for understanding potential risks to human health.
Fiber laser-backscattered optofluidic sensor for ultrasensitive and wide-range nanoplastic quantification
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Scientists have developed a highly sensitive laser-based sensor that can detect tiny plastic particles (as small as 20 nanometers—much smaller than a virus) in water, even at very low concentrations. This matters because nanoplastics are increasingly showing up in our water, food, and even our bodies, but until now they've been hard to detect and measure accurately. This new tool could enable on-site, real-time monitoring of nanoplastic pollution, helping researchers and regulators better understand and address potential health risks from plastic contamination in our environment.
Fiber Laser-Backscattered Optofluidic Sensor for Ultrasensitive and Wide-Range Nanoplastic Quantification
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Scientists have built a laser-based sensor that can detect and measure incredibly tiny plastic particles—called nanoplastics—in water, even at very low concentrations and across a wide range of sizes. This matters because nanoplastics are showing up everywhere, including in drinking water and our bodies, but they've been hard to detect and measure accurately; this new tool could make it easier to monitor plastic pollution in real time and better understand our actual exposure to it.
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.
Detection of Sub-Micro- and Nanoplastic Particles on Gold Nanoparticle-Based Substrates by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Spectroscopy
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This dataset supports a study demonstrating that a gold nanoparticle-based substrate using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy can detect plastic particles smaller than one micrometer, including nanoplastics below 100 nanometers. The technique offers a significant advance over conventional methods that cannot detect particles at these scales.
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