Name: a filter-based surface enhanced raman spectroscopic assay for rapid detection of chemical contaminants
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This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Grant Award Number 2010-ST-061-FD0001 through a grant awarded by the National Center for Food Protection and Defense at the University of Minnesota. Disclaimer: The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or the National Center for Food Protection and Defense.

1. Silver Nanoparticle Synthesis15
<ol>
	<li>Dissolve 18 mg silver nitrate in 100 ml ultrapure water (18.2 &#937;U) and vortex for 5 sec.</li>
	<li>Dissolve 27 mg sodium citrate dihydrate in 1 ml water and vortex for 5 sec.</li>
	<li>Transfer all of the prepared silver nitrate solution to a conical flask containing a stirring bar and put the flask on a magnetic hot plate. Heat the flask under vigorous stirring with a stirring speed of 700 rpm at ~350 &#176;C (setting temperature on the plate).</li>
	<li>When...

<ol>
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One of the critical steps in this protocol is the Ag NPs synthesis, where uniform Ag NPs are the key for consistent results. The heating time and the concentrations of precursors must be precisely controlled. The average size of this AgNPs preparation is 80 nm, which was measured by the Zetasizer (data not shown). Another critical step is the salt aggregation where the salt concentration and aggregation time must be precisely controlled. In addition, the choice of membrane is also critical as the membrane with a smaller ...

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a technique combining Raman spectroscopy with nanotechnology. The intensity of Raman scattering of analytes at noble metallic nano-surfaces is greatly enhanced by the localized surface plasmon resonance.1 Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are by far the most widely used SERS substrates due to its high enhancement ability.2 Up to now, various synthetic methods of Ag NPs have been developed.3-6 Ag NPs can be used alone as effective SERS substrates, or combined with other materials and structures to enhance its sensitivity and/or functionality.7-11
SERS techniques have demonstrated great capacity for detection of various trace amount contaminants in food and environmental samples.12 Traditionally, there are two common ways for preparing a SERS sample: solution-based and substrate-based methods.13 The solution-based method uses NP colloids to mix with samples. Then the NP-analyte complex is collected using centrifugation, and deposited onto a solid support for Raman measurement after drying. The substrate-based method is usually applied by depositing several microliters of liquid sample onto the pre-fabricated solid substrate.14 However, neither of these two methods are effective and applicable for a large amount of sample volume. Several modifications of the SERS assays overcame the volume limits, such as the integration of a filter system15-21 or the incorporation of a microfluidic device.21-24 The modified SERS assays have shown great enhancement in sensitivity and feasibility for monitoring the chemical contaminants in large water samples.
Here we demonstrate the detailed protocol of fabrication and application of a syringe filter based SERS method to detect trace amount of pesticide ferbam and antibiotic ampicillin.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="604">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:211px;">Ampicillin</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">BP1760-5</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">N/A</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:211px;">Ferbam</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Chem Service</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">N-11970-250MG</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">98+%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:211px;">Silver nitrate</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">209139</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">99.0+%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:211px;">Sodium citrate dehydrate</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">W302600</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">99+%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="18">
			<td height="18" style="height:19px;width:211px;">Sodium chloride</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">S7653</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">99.5+%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:211px;">EMD Millipore Durapore PVDF Membrane Filters</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">VVLP01300</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">0.10 &#181;m Pore Size, hydrophilic</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:211px;">Polycarbonate Filter Holders</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Cole-Parmer</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">EW-29550-40</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">13 mm diameter</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Analog Vortex Mixer</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>02-215-365</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="50">
			<td height="50" style="height:51px;width:211px;">Nutating Mixers</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>05-450-213</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">N/A</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:211px;">DXR Raman spectroscope</td>
			<td style="width:128px;">Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:136px;">IQLAADGABFFAHCMAPB</td>
			<td style="width:131px;">Laser power: 1 mW Exposure time: 5 s</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

a filter-based surface enhanced raman spectroscopic assay for rapid detection of chemical contaminants

We demonstrate a method to fabricate highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) substrates using a filter syringe system that can be applied to the detection of various chemical contaminants. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are synthesized via reduction of silver nitrate by sodium citrate. Then the NPs are aggregated by sodium chloride to form nanoclusters that could be trapped in the pores of the filter membrane. A syringe is connected to the filter holder, with a filter membrane inside. By loading the nanoclusters into the syringe and passing through the membrane, the liquid goes through the membrane but not the nanoclusters, forming a SERS-active membrane. When testing the analyte, the liquid sample is loaded into the syringe and flowed through the Ag NPs coated membrane. The analyte binds and concentrates on the Ag NPs coated membrane. Then the membrane is detached from the filter holder, air dried and measured by a Raman instrument. Here we present the study of the volume effect of Ag NPs and sample on the detection sensitivity as well as the detection of 10 ppb ferbam and 1 ppm ampicillin using the developed assay.

The major steps of this experiment were shown in the schematic diagram (Figure 1). Figure 2 demonstrated the importance to use the optimized volume of AgNPs in the membrane coating in order to reach the maximized sensitivity. 1 ml of Ag NPs provides the strongest signal when using ferbam, as compared to 0.5 ml (insufficient coating) or 2 ml (too much coating).
We were able to detect ferbam at 10...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Filter-based Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopic Assay for Rapid Detection of Chemical Contaminants at JoVE.com

A Filter-based Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopic Assay for Rapid Detection of Chemical Contaminants

A procedure for fabrication and performing the filter-based surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) assay for the detection of chemical contaminants (i.e., pesticide ferbam and antibiotic ampicillin) is presented.

We demonstrate a method to fabricate highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) substrates using a filter syringe system that can be ...

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