An efficient SERS detection platform based on roseate petal homochiral nanogold (Au RHNs) as substrate for sensitive detection of plastics in environmental water samples.

Abstract

Excessive plastic consumption can pose potential risks to the human respiratory and circulatory systems, leading to various diseases. Therefore, the sensitive detection of plastics holds significant implications for ensuring food safety, environmental protection, and human health. Conducting tests on rivers and drinking water can ensure their compliance with relevant safety standards, thereby mitigating the potential environmental and health risks associated with plastic pollution. In this experiment, we prepared a roseate petal homochiral nanogold (Au RHNs) as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate for detecting plastics in the water. Due to the intricate rose petal-like surface and structures with symmetry breaking, which result in a large surface area, the mean enhancement factor (EF) of the Au RHNs was determined to be 8.4696 × 10⁵. The Au RHNs as the SERS substrate were used to test the plastic polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), with the detection limits of 0.0986 mg/mL and 0.0975 mg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the prepared Au RHNs substrate were successfully applied for ananlyzing analyze actual samples (tap water, mineral water, river water), yielding a satisfactory recovery rate. The exceptional performance of Au RHNs as a SERS detection substrate indicated its promising potential for practical detection of plastic samples.