Tunable Plasmonic Enhancement of Silver Nanoparticles on Flexible Teflon for Effective SERS-Assisted Environmental Monitoring

Abstract:

The nanofabrication of long-range ordered metal nanostructures has garnered significant research attention in the advancement of plasmonic-assisted sensor development. In this study, we report efficient nanofabrication of silver arrays on Teflon (Tef/Ag) for fabricating a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensor for detecting multiple pollutants. The number of laser pulses was systematically varied from 200 to 10000 to study its impact on the morphological features of Ag nanoarrays. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and UV-visible spectroscopy were employed to study the morphological and optical characteristics, respectively. The physical properties were then correlated to their corresponding sensing activities. The number of laser pulses was optimized to achieve the highest SERS sensing efficiency. The sensor fabricated at 5000 laser pulses exhibited the highest SERS enhancement, attributed to the formation of a highly dense metal nano-island formation (Fig. 1a). Compared to silicon and quartz, Teflon provided the best substrate for achieving the highest SERS enhancement. An enhancement factor of 3.1 × 10⁷ has been estimated for Teflon/Ag sensor, which showed superior efficiency of the fabricated sensor. The reproducibility of the sensor showed relative standard deviation values of 9.1%. The sensor was further validated for the detection of various environmental pollutants, demonstrating its potential as a flexible, reusable and efficient platform for environmental monitoring.

• Periodical: Solid State Phenomena (Volume 394)
• Pages: 15-20
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-zX3M4A
• Online since: June 2026
• Authors: Kais Daoudi*, Soumya Columbus, Krithikadevi Ramachandran, My Ali El Khakani, Mounir Gaidi
• Keywords: Chemical Pollutants, Metal Nanoparticles, Plasmonic, Pulsed Laser Deposition

References

[1] R.R. Appannagari, North Asian International Research Journal of Social Science & Humanities, vol 3 (2017), pp.151-161.

[2] P. Elliott, A.J. Westlake, M. Hills, I. Kleinschmidt, L. Rodrigues, P. McGale, K. Marshall, and G. Rose, Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, vol 46 (1992), pp.345-349.

DOI: 10.1136/jech.46.4.345

[3] H. Sato, and Y. Aoki, Current drug metabolism, vol 3 (2002), pp.311-319.

[4] J.F. Lawrence, Chromatographia, vol 24, (1987), pp.45-50.

[5] A.H. Ali, Ann. Adv. Chem, vol 6, (2022), pp.010-020.

[6] D. Barceló, and M. Petrovic, TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, vol 26 (2007), pp.2-11.

[7] M. Shameer, K.V. Anand, J.B. Parambath, S. Columbus, and H. Alawadhi: Plasmonics, vol 20 (2025), pp.5609-5626.

DOI: 10.1007/s11468-024-02673-y

[8] M. Shameer, K.V. Anand, J.B. S. Columbus, H. Alawadhi, K. Daoudi, and M. Gaidi: Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy-based sensors as a futuristic analytical tool for environmental remediation and food safety. In Applied Raman Spectroscopy 2025, pp.325-335. Elsevier.

DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-443-21834-7.00019-0

[9] S. Jin, D. Zhang, B. Yang, S. Guo, L. Chen, and Y.M. Jung, Analyst, vol 149 (2024), pp.11-28.

[10] S. Laing, K. Gracie, and K. Faulds: Chemical Society Reviews, vol. 45 (2016), pp.1901-1918.

[11] K. Daoudi, S. Columbus, B.P. Falcão, R.N. Pereira, S.B. Peripolli, K. Ramachandran, H.H. Kacem, A. Allagui, and M. Gaidi: Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, vol. 290 (2023), p.122262.

DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2022.122262

[12] S. Columbus, K. Daoudi, K. Ramachandran, M. Shameer, H.H. Kacem, H. Alawadhi, and M. Gaidi: Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, vol. 398 (2024), p.134780.

DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2023.134780

[13] S. Sadik, S. Columbus, S. Bhattacharjee, S.S. Nazeer, K. Ramachandran, K. Daoudi, H. Alawadhi, M. Gaidi, and A. Shanableh: Environmental Pollution, vol. 343 (2024), p.123229.

DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123229

[14] M. Gaidi, K. Daoudi, S. Columbus, A. Hajjaji, M.A. El Khakani, and B. Bessais, Journal of Environmental Sciences, vol 101 (2021) pp.123-134.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2020.08.010

[15] M. Shameer, K.V. Anand, S. Columbus, H. Alawadhi, K. Daoudi, M. Gaidi, and K. Govindaraju, Microchimica Acta, vol 191 (2024), p.193.

DOI: 10.1007/s00604-024-06276-6

[16] C.Y. Lee, G.W. Wu, and W.J. Hsieh: Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 147 (2008), pp.173-176.

[17] V.T.N. Linh, J. Moon, C. Mun, V. Devaraj, J.W. Oh, S.G. Park, D.H. Kim, J. Choo, Y.I. Lee, and H.S. Jung: Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, vol. 291 (2019), pp.369-377.

DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2019.04.077

[18] M. Gaidi, K. Daoudi, S. Columbus, K. Ramachandran, and M.A.E. Khakani: Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, (2025), pp.1-15.

[19] A. Garcia-Leis, J.V. Garcia-Ramos, and S. Sanchez-Cortes, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, vol 117 (2013), pp.7791-7795.

DOI: 10.1021/jp401737y

[20] Q. Tong, W. Wang, Y. Fan, and L. Dong, TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, vol 106 (2018) pp.246-258.

[21] M. Rycenga, P.H. Camargo, W. Li, C.H. Moran, and Y. Xia, The journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, vol 1 (2010), pp.696-703.

[22] H. Park, S.B. Lee, K. Kim, M.S. Kim, J. Phys. Chem. Vol 94 (1990), p.7576–7580.

[23] P. Hildebrandt, M. Stockburger, J. Phys. Chem. Vol 88 (1984), p.5935–5944.

[24] T.N. Kha, Thanh Si, N. S.V. Vu, K.Q. Vo, D.T. Huyen, M.T. Nguyen, and P.V. Nhat, ACS Omega, vol 10 (2025), pp.31610-31622.

DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.5c02322