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Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for emerging contaminant analysis in drinking water
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Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) offers a cost-effective and sensitive alternative to conventional mass spectrometry for detecting emerging contaminants in drinking water, including microplastics, PFAS, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and endocrine disruptors. Advances in SERS substrate design and hot-spot engineering are making real-time, field-deployable monitoring of these pollutants increasingly feasible, which is essential for protecting public health from long-term low-dose exposures.
Emerging contaminants (ECs) in drinking water pose threats to public health due to their environmental prevalence and potential toxicity. The occurrence of ECs in our drinking water supplies depends on their physicochemical properties, discharging rate, and susceptibility to removal by water treatment processes. Uncertain health effects of long-term exposure to ECs justify their regular monitoring in drinking water supplies. In this review article, we will summarize the current status and future opportunities of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for EC analysis in drinking water. Working principles of SERS are first introduced and a comparison of SERS and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in terms of cost, time, sensitivity, and availability is made. Subsequently, we discuss the strategies for designing effective SERS sensors for EC analysis based on five categories—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, novel pesticides, pharmaceuticals, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and microplastics. In addition to maximizing the intrinsic enhancement factors of SERS substrates, strategies to improve hot spot accessibilities to the targeting ECs are equally important. This is a review article focusing on SERS analysis of ECs in drinking water. The discussions are not only guided by numerous endeavors to advance SERS technology but also by the drinking water regulatory policy.
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