Detection of nanoplastics through low-cost SERS substrates, based on 3D islands of aggregated gold nanoparticles on aluminum foil, for wide ranging applications

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful analytical technique that can detect trace quantities of analyte. However, fabricating cost–effective and homogeneous SERS substrates for diverse applications remains a significant challenge. Herein, a simple bottom-up technique is reported for developing a unique SERS substrate by exploiting the plasmonic coupling of low-cost aluminium foil (ALF) and 3-dimensional (3D) gold nanoparticle aggregates induced by cucurbit[5]uril (CB[5]) .