In situ surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering analysis of a reactive dye covalently bound to cotton

Abstract

An in situ surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) procedure is described for the analysis of a reactive dye covalently bound to a single strand of a cotton fibre. This procedure can be completed in 5 h, whereas an alternative enzyme digestion method takes approximately 21 h. These two fibre preparation methods give similar spectra from picogram quantities of dye present on a 2-5 mm length of fibre. The in situ nature of the analysis and the small sample size make this method particularly suitable for forensic applications.