Performance evaluation of novel Ag@GO-biomaterial SERS substrates for the ultrasensitive detection of neomycin in foods

Many biomaterials are hydrophobic, making them attractive materials for the fabrication of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates. Herein, we prepared a series of novel SERS substrates by loading graphene oxide (GO) and silver nanoparticles onto four different hydrophobic biomaterials (rose petals, lotus leaves, cicada wings or dragonfly wings). The obtained Ag@GO-biomaterial SERS substrates offered outstanding SERS performance. These substrates utilized both the electromagnetic mechanism and chemical mechanism to boost the SERS signal, as well as the concentrating effect owing to the hydrophobicity of biomaterials. The Ag@GO-rose petal SERS substrate showed the strongest signal enhancement capability, offering an LOD of 4.52 × 10-11 mol L-1 for the detection of the neomycin. Results encourage the wider use of hydrophobic biomaterials in SERS substrate construction and hazard monitoring.