A Novel Controllable Nanocyclic Plasma Coupled Array in Sers Trace Detection of Multi-Component Trace Pollutants

Abstract

Controlled plasma coupling between nanostructures significantly enhances surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals. In this study, we developed Ag ring-coupled nanoarrays (Ag RCNAs) with controllable nanogaps using a substrate rotary evaporation coating technique with self-assembled polystyrene (PS) microspheres as templates. This straightforward and cost-effective method efficiently prepares plasma-coupled nanoarrays. Our Ag RCNAs demonstrated high sensitivity in detecting organic dyes, our prepared Ag RCNAs showed high sensitivity (with the limit of detection (LOD) of 10-8 M), high signal reproducibility (with the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 6.73%). Furthermore, Ag RCNAs showed remarkable sensitivity to a broad spectrum of dyes in river water, indicating their potential for precise identification of trace pollutants using SERS technology. This approach offers advantages in electromagnetic field enhancement, tunable nanogaps, uniformity, reproducibility, and recyclability, making it promising for applications in environmental monitoring, bioassays, food safety, and medical diagnostics.

Keywords: SERS, nanostructure, rotary evaporation, plasma coupling, electromagnetic field enhancement, pollutants