A Au nanoparticle-incorporated sponge as a versatile transmission surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate

Abstract

We report a sponge-based transmission surface-enhanced Raman scattering (TSERS) substrate that combines the bulk sampling capabilities of a transmission measurement to improve the quantitative representation of sample concentration with several sponge properties useful for analysis such as fast sample uptake, easy sample enrichment, and a stable polymeric structure. Among nine commercially available sponges made of different materials, a melamine sponge was ultimately selected for this study because it provided the fastest sample uptake and a low background Raman signal. Simultaneously, the amino groups and three-nitrogen hybrid rings in its structure could easily hold Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) inside the sponge. AuNP-incorporated sponges (AuNP sponges) were prepared by simply soaking a melamine sponge in a AuNP solution; these sponges were initially used to measure 4-nitrobenzenethiol (4-NBT) samples with different concentrations in order to evaluate their ability as TSERS substrates. The intensities of the 4-NBT peaks clearly varied according to changes in the concentration, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the peak intensity estimated by the measurements of five independently prepared AuNP sponges was 10.0%. Sample enrichment was easily completed by repeated suctioning of the sample into the AuNP sponges followed by depletion of the solvent, so three-time enrichment doubled the intensity. Furthermore, paraquat samples were prepared in diverse matrices (de-ionized water, tap water, river water, and orange juice) and measured using the AuNP sponges. The paraquat peaks were clearly observed from these samples and their peak intensities became smaller with the increased compositional complexity of the matrices. Our overall results demonstrate that the TSERS sponge substrates are easy to prepare and practically versatile for SERS analysis of diverse samples.