SERS on paper: an extremely low cost technique to measure Raman signal

Finding a low cost substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) yielding enhanced, reproducible Raman signal from Raman active samples has been a longstanding goal for researchers for years. Herein, we demonstrate the fabrication of such a SERS substrate from paper. The proposed paper-based SERS substrate was developed by attaching polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) capped silver nano-particles (AgNPs) to printing grade paper. The performance of the substrate has been evaluated for paper substrates of various grades (in grams per square meter; GSM). The usability of the developed substrate for detection of two Raman active samples-namely, malachite green (MG) and rhodamine6G (R6G)-is reported. In addition to these samples, the reproducibility of the designed substrate has been evaluated for 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl) ethylene (BPE); a good degree of reproducibility was observed. Finally, applicability of the proposed substrate for reliable detection of Raman signals from two more important samples-namely, glucose and urine-has been successfully demonstrated.