Particle-in-Molybdenum Disulfide-Coated Cavity Structure with a Raman Internal Standard for Sensitive Raman Detection of Water Contaminants from Ions to <300 nm Nanoplastics

Abstract

To develop a universal and precise detection strategy that can be applied to water contaminants of various sizes, we designed a particle-in-MoS₂ coated cavity structure of AAO/MoS₂/Ag with a Raman internal standard. This modified particle-in-cavity structure not only successfully integrates both "surface hot spots" and "volume hot spots" via dressing and manipulating the cascaded optical-field mode inside the cavity but also introduces the chemical enhancement and internal standard attribute of MoS₂. Because of its unique three-dimensional structure, AAO/MoS₂/Ag accurately detects water contaminants of various sizes from ions to nanoplastics (<300 nm) for the first time. This work proposes a novel and universal surface-enhanced Raman scattering strategy for detecting multiple-size water contaminants and demonstrates the potential to build a security line in early warning systems for the prevention of water pollution.