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Highly sensitive sensing and quantitative detection of sulfate ion with a SERS chip-based on boric acid’s Lewis effect

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Abstract

Based on the Lewis acid’s coordination principle, a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) chip strategy had been developed for the ultrasensitive quantitation of SO42−. Through the immobilization of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and the construction of the boric acid-based sensing unit, the chip system displayed outstanding merits on the direct sensing of SO42−, e.g., simple operation, ultra-high sensitivity, reproducibility, excellent selectivity and specificity. Moreover, an accurate evaluation was obtained by ratiometric calculations on characteristic peaks (1382 and 1070 cm−1) for quantitative detection of SO42−. The detection limit was down to 10 nM. Tap water, beer, and mineral water samples were tested, and high recoveries were achieved (97.12–110.12%). Besides, such SERS chip also displayed strong applicability for the evaluation of SO32−. Therefore, this SERS chip provided a promising idea for the quantification of trace amounts of SO42− and SO32− in the fields of food safety and environmental monitoring.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Projects and Six Talent Peaks Project of Jiangsu Province (No. SWYY-023); F.P. thanks for the support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21603087), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20160178).

Funding

Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 21603087, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, No. BK20160178, Six Talent Peaks Project in Jiangsu Province, No. SWYY-023.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Yueying Gao, Yuqi Wan, Lin Liu, Jinghan Liu, Jingkun Li, Yu Li & Fuwei Pi

  2. School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Kwansei Gakuin University, Sanda, Hyogo, 669-1337, Japan

    Yukihiro Ozaki

  3. Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute, Nagakute, Aichi, 480-1192, Japan

    Yukihiro Ozaki

  4. Collaborative Innovation Center of Food Safety and Quality Control in Jiangsu Province, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Yueying Gao, Yuqi Wan, Lin Liu, Jinghan Liu, Jingkun Li, Yu Li & Fuwei Pi

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  1. Yueying Gao
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Correspondence to Fuwei Pi.

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Gao, Y., Wan, Y., Liu, L. et al. Highly sensitive sensing and quantitative detection of sulfate ion with a SERS chip-based on boric acid’s Lewis effect. ANAL. SCI. 38, 1385–1394 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44211-022-00169-5

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