LAUSR

Abstract Flexible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates, specifically paper-based SERS substrates, are generally employed in many practical applications. However, paper-based SERS substrate quantitation is still challenging because of the inferior uniformity originating from the irregular morphology of the paper. The present study synthesized Ag nanoparticles (NPs) via the in situ photochemical reduction of Ag+ ions on a titanium dioxide (TiO2) film at the polyester fiber membranes (PFMs) surface. This generated many “hot spots” that presented significant SERS activity with an enhancement factor of 2.1 × 109. Sodium saccharin (SS) bonded to the Ag NPs surface via the carbonyl oxygen and ring nitrogen atoms. A SERS sensor with photochemically deposited Ag NPs was prepared for the sensitive and rapid detection of SS in soft drinks with a limit of detection of 0.3 mg/L. The recovery rate ranged from 93% to 103%, indicating that this method is reliable in actual sample detection with simple pretreatment steps and can be potentially applied for the on-site detection of food additives for food safety.