Microfluidic Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensors based on Nanoimprint Resist for Sensitive Detection of Pesticides in Water

This work reports on the integrated microfluidic sensors based on Surface-Enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for the sensitive detection of pesticides in water. A gold-metallized, UV-NIL resist nanopatterns in the range 200–400 nm were integrated in a microfluidic channel. The functionality of fabricated sensors is demonstrated by measuring the SERS spectra of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) and thiabendazole (TBZ), a common fungicide and an emerging pollutant, in static and flow conditions. The detection of TBZ is demonstrated down to 10 ⁻⁷ M. The preliminary experimental results show the dependence of analyte pre-concentration on flow. The demonstrated approach opens for low-cost fabrication of portable, integrated SERS sensors for determination of pesticides in surface waters in real time.