Rapid detection of trace formaldehyde in food based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering coupled with assembled purge trap

It has been remained a challenge to detect trace formaldehyde in complex samples, such as rice flour and duck blood products. In this study, a purge-trap device was designed and used for volatile target detection, which avoided interference adsorptions on enhanced particle surfaces during subsequent surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) analysis. The device produced a low detection limit for formaldehyde of 1x10(-4) mu g/mL in the concentration ranges of 4 x 10(-3)-4 mu g/mL and 1 x 10(-4)-3 x 10(-3) mu g/mL. In the process of the detection of duck blood and rice flour, partial least squares regression (PLSR) was adopted for sample analysis. The formaldehyde concentration was calculated and compared to the actual value from the above model with R-2 of 0.97, which indicated high accuracy and stability. These results suggested that the proposed method was reliable and suitable for rapid analysis of trace formaldehyde in real products.

Automated summary

In this study, a purge-trap device and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy were successfully used to detect trace formaldehyde in complex samples. Partial least squares regression was adopted for sample analysis, which showed accurate and stable results.