GAO Youliang

(Department of Material Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen 333403, Jiangxi, China)

Abstract: Silver nanoparticles were successfully synthesized utilizing biocompatible polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as a reduction agent and stabilizer in aqueous solution. The morphology, size and crystallinity of silver nanoparticles were investigated by TEM and XRD. The results showed that the silver nanoparticles are highly monodisperse and stable with diameters of around 18 nm and greatly crystallized. The SERS activity of as-prepared silver nanoparticles was investigated using hydroxylthiol benzene (4-HBT) as Raman reporter. The results showed the detection limit of 4-HBT is 10^-9 mol/L, so the silver nanoparticles present excellent SERS sensitivity. What’s more, utilizing silver nanoparticles as surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates can detect 10^-5 mol/L melamine. So the as prepared silver nanoparticles have great potential of monitoring the food safety and environmental protection.

Key words: silver nanoparticle; surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy; polyvinyl pyrrolidone; melamine