Rapid Detection of Cypermethrin by Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Technique

Abstract

Cypermethrin is a toxic pesticide in the pyrethroid group. A Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) based sensor has been developed to achieve simple pesticide sensing. In this work, rapid detection of cypermethrin by using the handheld Raman spectroscopy coupled with SERS substrate was demonstrated. SERS-active silver nanorods substrate was used to enhance Raman signals of test samples. The effect of exposure time and drop volume of sample was studied for cypermethrin measurement. The results found that the silver nanorods substrate can be used to measure cypermethrin in the range of 10-6 to 10-3 M with a handheld Raman spectrometer. Furthermore, the Raman signal of cypermethrin was confirmed by measuring solid cypermethrin with the standard Raman spectrometer. SERS substrate was competent to detect cypermethrin with a limit of detection (LOD) of 10-6 M.