We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
V-shaped substrate for surface and volume enhanced Raman spectroscopic analysis of microplastics
Summary
A gold-nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrate using V-shaped anodized aluminum oxide nanopores was developed to detect individual microplastic particles as small as 1 micrometer, with successful testing on real atmospheric samples. Rapid, sensitive detection methods for sub-5-micrometer microplastics are essential because this size range is the hardest to monitor yet most likely to penetrate biological barriers.
Research on the microplastics (MPs) is developing towards smaller size, but corresponding methods for the rapid and accurate detection of microplastics, especially nanoplastics still present challenge. In this work, a novel surface and volume enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrate was developed for the rapid detection of microplastic particles below 5 μm. The gold nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited onto the surface and into the V-shaped nanopores of anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) through magnetron sputtering or ion sputtering, and then AuNPs@V-shaped AAO SERS substrate was obtained and studied for microplastic detection. SERS performance of AuNPs@V-shaped AAO SERS substrate was evaluated through the detection of polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate microspheres. Results indicated that individual polystyrene sphere with a diameter of 1 μm can be well detected on AuNPs@V-shaped AAO SERS substrate, and the maximum enhancement factor (EF) can reach 20. In addition, microplastics in ambient atmospheric samples were collected and tested to verify the effectiveness of the AuNPs@V-shaped AAO SERS substrate in the real environment. This study provides a rapid, economic and simple method for detecting and identifying microplastics with small size.