Rapid fabrication of silver nanoparticle-coated filter paper as SERS substrate for low-abundance molecules detection.

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were fabricated on the fibers of the filter paper by the reaction between silver nitrate (AgNO3) and hydrazine hydrate (N2H4·H2O). By using the Ag NPs-coated paper, the limit of detection as low as 10-11M for Rhodamine B (RhB) and 10-10M for crystal violet (CV) was achieved. Moreover, the uniformity, reproducibility and stability of the Ag NPs-coated paper were also involved. Meanwhile, the detection of 10-4-10-6M moxifloxacin in deionized water and tap water was also carried out successfully by using the paper-based substrates. The fabrication process is easy to handle, cost-efficient and the as-prepared paper-based SERS substrate is ideal for rapid and simple detection of low-abundance molecules.