Microplastic pollutant detection by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS): a mini-review

Our pristine nature is getting contaminated by plastic pollutants day by day. Plastic bottles are ending up in landfills and oceans in bulk and micro form. The use of microplastic (plastic particles less than 5 mm) in personal care products has been banned recently, as the accumulation of microplastic is a major concern to marine life and food chain. Even microplastic rain has been reported at certain regions. This mini-review provides an overview of different types of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) substrates such as: (a) Metal nanoparticle in suspension (b) Metal nanoparticle immobilized on solid substrate (c) Nanofabrication of solid substrate. This article also highlights the label-free strategies of analyte retention on SERS substrate such as (i) Direct binding (ii) Electrostatic interaction (iii) Chemical affinity (iv) Mechanical trapping. A state-of-art literature review elucidates how these SERS methodologies can be used to effectively detect microplastic pollutant in water.