Quantitative Measurements of PFAS at Femtomole Concentrations via Integrated SERS and Single Photon Detection Methods

Quantitative Measurements of PFAS at Femtomole Concentrations via Integrated SERS and Single Photon Detection Methods | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Quantitative Measurements of PFAS at Femtomole Concentrations via Integrated SERS and Single Photon Detection Methods Tianhang Huo, Yehong Li, Silvana Andreescu, Yu-Ping Huang, Henrey Du This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6382103/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pose significant environmental and health concerns, necessitating their efficient and accurate identification to facilitate their eventual mitigation from the environment. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) enables highly sensitive and precise molecular identification, but trace-level detection of chemicals and fluorescence interference remain significant challenges. Here, we present a uniform 3D AgNP@Si substrate for SERS, leveraging photon counting to achieve susceptible and low-fluorescence detection. This approach enables the detection of PFAS, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), at concentrations as low as 10 − 15 M, with Rhodamine 6G (R6G) used as a model analyte. Additionally, the quantitative analysis demonstrated a strong logarithmic relationship between Raman intensity and analyte concentration, with high correlation coefficients ( R 2 = 0.98 for R6G and 0.97 for PFOA and PFOS). This pioneering approach offers a promising alternative to current analytical techniques for monitoring PFAS and other contaminants in the environment. SERS SPD Ag nanoparticle (AgNPs) multilayer substrate PFAS Raman Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6382103","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":452052181,"identity":"40c86f6c-8aaf-4a90-8637-a047690902d4","order_by":0,"name":"Tianhang Huo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Stevens Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tianhang","middleName":"","lastName":"Huo","suffix":""},{"id":452052183,"identity":"7d1cdaf8-b7c7-4a03-a804-f4bfae403ca5","order_by":1,"name":"Yehong Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Stevens Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yehong","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":452052185,"identity":"4e383744-548c-4574-82e7-5493f366cd18","order_by":2,"name":"Silvana Andreescu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Clarkson University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Silvana","middleName":"","lastName":"Andreescu","suffix":""},{"id":452052186,"identity":"3b8028b0-e074-4e61-b9aa-c5be4079acba","order_by":3,"name":"Yu-Ping Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Stevens Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yu-Ping","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":452052188,"identity":"dcc37053-ea5a-4d2a-ae56-ca0a9e132afd","order_by":4,"name":"Henrey Du","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAArElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACA4YExgcILhtxWpiBmEQtbBKkaTFnzzGr/PnDJrFfuv0Bw4eyw4S1WPa8MbvNk5CWOHPOGQPGGeeI0GJwI8fsNkPCYWMgg4GZt41ILYU/Ev4b299If8D8l1gtDDwJB+QMJBIMmBmJ0nLmWbE0T1qynMSNHIODPefSidByPHnjxx82djz8M9IfPvhRZk1YCwo4QKL6UTAKRsEoGAW4AABoszpWM2QxMAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Stevens Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Henrey","middleName":"","lastName":"Du","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-05 12:53:09","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6382103/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6382103/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":83728641,"identity":"b3abe7ae-452d-488b-b938-a1b0c60698fa","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-01 11:31:29","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":764259,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MS.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6382103/v1_covered_b896ace0-8acc-4344-ada4-c8b834294f53.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Quantitative Measurements of PFAS at Femtomole Concentrations via Integrated SERS and Single Photon Detection Methods","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"SERS, SPD, Ag nanoparticle (AgNPs), multilayer substrate, PFAS, Raman","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6382103/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6382103/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pose significant environmental and health concerns, necessitating their efficient and accurate identification to facilitate their eventual mitigation from the environment. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) enables highly sensitive and precise molecular identification, but trace-level detection of chemicals and fluorescence interference remain significant challenges. Here, we present a uniform 3D AgNP@Si substrate for SERS, leveraging photon counting to achieve susceptible and low-fluorescence detection. This approach enables the detection of PFAS, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), at concentrations as low as \u003cb\u003e10\u003c/b\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u0026minus;\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u003cb\u003e15\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e M, with Rhodamine 6G (R6G) used as a model analyte. 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