Detection of atmospheric contaminants in aerosols by surface-enhanced Raman spectrometry

Surface-enhanced Raman spectrometry (SERS) has been evaluated as a new technique for detection of trace amounts of atmospheric contaminants in aerosols. An inexpensive and straightforward procedure for aerosol sampling based on collection onto an untreated solid substrate was used. SERS-active substrates were prepared by in-situ chemical reduction of silver or by deposition of a silver hydrosol on filter paper. Sensitive and reproducible methods for determination of atmospheric pollutants with limits of detection at the ng level are presented.