Silver nanostructure on ablated silicon wafer prepared via pulsed laser ablation for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

We propose and develop a simple and cost-effective method to fabricate surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for the trace detection of antibiotics. A nanostructured silicon (Si) surface is prepared by the pulsed laser ablation (PLA) of a Si wafer in distilled water. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized via PLA in distilled water are deposited on the ablated Si surface to form a SERS substrate (AgNP/aSi). Malachite green (MG) is used as a probe analyte to examine the SERS activity of the AgNP/aSi substrate. The AgNP/aSi substrate can yield an SERS spectrum of MG with high resolution at a minimum concentration of 0.01 ppm. Using the AgNP/aSi substrate, we investigate its capacity for detecting tetracycline (TC) residue in shrimp. The Raman peak intensities at 1320 cm(-1) for TC concentrations from 10 to 0.1 ppm show a linear relationship with the corresponding logarithmic concentrations. Our simple and efficient method can be used for the trace detection of MG, TC, and other antibiotics in various applications via SERS.

Automated summary

A simple and cost-effective method for fabricating SERS substrates for trace detection of antibiotics was proposed and developed. The nanostructured silicon surface with deposited silver nanoparticles showed high sensitivity and resolution for detecting antibiotics such as malachite green and tetracycline. The method has potential for various applications in trace detection of antibiotics using SERS.