Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for uranium detection and analysis in environmental samples.

Chuanmin Ruan, Wensui Luo, Wei Wang, Baohua Gu

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, United States.

Analytica chimica acta 2007 Dec 12

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Techniques for rapid screening of uranium in environmental samples are needed, and this study entails the development of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for analyzing uranium in aqueous media with improved sensitivity and reproducibility. A new SERS substrate based on (aminomethyl)phosphonic acid (APA)-modified gold nanoparticles was found to give greater than three orders of magnitude SERS enhancement compared with unmodified bare gold nanoparticles. Intensities of uranyl band at about 830 cm(-1) were proportional to the concentrations of uranium in solution, especially at relatively low concentrations (<10(-5) M). A detection limit of approximately 8x10(-7) M was achieved with a good reproducibility since the measurement was performed directly in dispersed aqueous suspension. Without pretreatment, the technique was successfully employed for detecting uranium in a highly contaminated groundwater with a low pH, high dissolved salts (e.g., nitrate, sulfate, calcium and aluminum) and total organic carbon.

Citation

Chuanmin Ruan, Wensui Luo, Wei Wang, Baohua Gu. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for uranium detection and analysis in environmental samples. Analytica chimica acta. 2007 Dec 12;605(1):80-6