Sensitive SERS detection of Tobramycin using electrochemically synthesized silver nanoparticles

Sensitive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates designed for drug sensing are in great interest due to the growing demand in environmental monitoring, disease therapies and chemical analysis. Here, spherical silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs; ~8 nm) are synthesized via a simple electrochemical route and examined as SERS substrates for Tobramycin (TOBi) detection. The morphology and structure characterizations confirm the successful fabrication of Ag-NP. TOBi in diluted solution has a detection limit of 10 −6 M, and the linear relationship between SERS intensity and TOBi amount is between 10 −6 and 10 −5 M. A strong SER signal with an enhancement factor of ~7.5 × 10 4 is observed. TOBi drug is for the first time investigated through Ag-based SERS detection. Graphical abstract