Detect, Remove: A New Paradigm in Sensing and Removal of PCBs from reservoir soil via SERS-Active ZnO triggered gold nanocomposites

Abstract

An improved approach for highly selective detection and removal of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and its isomers, via Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) platform using ZnO modified gold nanocomposites (ZnO-Au NCs) as the effective substrate with the real environmental sample of reservoir soil was reported. The synthesized ZnO-Au NCs were characterized by using UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). GC-MS spectra confirm the presence of PCBs in reservoir soil. The isomers of tetrachlorobiphenyl were detected by using SERS as low concentration level even at 6 mM. The high photocatalytic activity of these ZnO-Au NCs substrate can degrade the pollutants in the soil under UV irradiation. The apparent rate constant of the catalytic reaction of reservoir soil extract in the presence of ZnO-Au NCs is 0.021/min. The SERS and photocatalytic degradation experimental result show that ZnO-Au NCs is a good candidate for the detection and degradation of organic pollutants.