SERS-active Ag nanostars substrates for sensitive detection of ethyl carbamate in wine

A simple and sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) method for the detection of ethyl carbamate (EC) is reported in this work. Star-shaped silver nanostars (Ag NSs) were used as a novel SERS substrate. In comparison to other plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs), including Au NPs, Au NSs and Ag NPs, Ag NSs exhibit best SERS activity. Raman signal of EC at a trace level can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude with the help of Ag NSs. The Raman intensity of EC increased linearly with an increase of the EC concentration in the range from 5 × 10 -9 mol L -1 to 1.0 × 10 -4 mol L -1 with detection limit (LOD) of 1.37 × 10 -9 mol L -1 (S/N = 3). The developed SERS approach also has the advantages of being simple, fast and requiring less amount of the sample. It could serve as a useful technology for the rapid determination of EC in both alcoholic beverages and fermented food. © The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry.