Hand-Held Femtogram Detection of Hazardous Picric Acid with Hydrophobic Ag Nanopillar SERS Substrates and Mechanism of Elasto-Capillarity

• Picric acid (PA) is a severe environmental and security risk due to its unstab e, toxic, and explosive properties. It is also challenging to detect in trace amounts and in situ because of its highly acidic and anionic character. Here, we assess sensing of PA under nonlaboratory conditions using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) silver nanopillar substrates and handheld Raman spectroscopy equipment. The advancing elasto-capillarity effects are explained by molecular dynamics simulations. We obtain a SERS PA detection limit on the order of 20 ppt, corresponding attomole amounts, which together with the simple analysis methodology demonstrates that the presented approach is highly competitive for ultrasensitive analysis in the field.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Polymerkemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Polymer Chemistry (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Atom- och molekylfysik och optik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Nanoteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Nano-technology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Materialkemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Materials Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

aqueous-solution

p7983

elasto-capillarity

molecular-dynamics

hydrophobic Ag nanopillars

molecular dynamics

1986

6-trinitrophenol tnp

metal-organic framework

enhanced raman-spectroscopy

conjugated polymer

charged silver nanoparticles

SERS

sensitive detection

highly selective

inorganic explosives

Science & Technology - Other Topics

4

v33

picric acid

detection

flexible hot-spots

2

physical review b

Chemistry

iles sm

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)