Synergistically enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering aptasensor for the quantitative monitoring of enrofloxacin in environmental waters
摘要
This study developed a highly selective and sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) aptasensor for detecting enrofloxacin (ENR), a persistent fluoroquinolone antibiotic posing environmental concerns. This SERS aptasensor is constructed using flexible carbon cloth (CC) as the substrate, which is oxidized and then modified with titanium dioxide (TiO2), followed by loading with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and functionalization with ENR-specific aptamer (Apt). The flexible nature of CC enables the substrate to adapt to irregular surfaces, providing structural support for potential portable on-site detection applications. It leverages a synergistic signal enhancement effect from localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of AuNPs and the likely charge-transfer contribution of TiO2. A partial least squares (PLS) regression model correlated full spectral profiles with ENR concentrations, enabling accurate quantification while effectively mitigating spectral complexity and matrix interference. Under optimized conditions, the aptasensor exhibits a wide linear detection range (1–104 nmol/L) with a low detection limit of 0.37 nmol/L. It demonstrates good selectivity against interferents, high reproducibility, with relative standard deviation (RSD) at 1.87%, and excellent stability over 14 days (RSD below 2.83%), and accurate spiked recoveries in real water samples (96.94%–109.47%). These results show the great potential of the proposed SERS aptasensor for reliable and practical monitoring of ENR in environmental applications.