In this contribution, we propose a novel functional surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) platform for the detection of one of the most hazardous heavy metal ions, Hg2+. The design of the proposed sensor is based on the combination of surface plasmon-polariton (SPP) supporting gold grating with the high homogeneity of the response and enhancement and mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) based specific recognition layer. For the first time, diazonium grafted 4-ethynylphenyl groups have undergone the sunlight-induced thiol-yne reaction with MSA in the presence of Eosine Y. The developed SERS platform provides an extremely sensitive, selective, and convenient analytical procedure to detect mercury ions with limit of detection (LOD) as low as 10-10 M (0.027 µg/L) with excellent selectivity over other metals. The developed SERS sensor is compatible with a portable SERS spectrophotometer and does not require the expensive equipment for statistical methods of analysis.
Keywords: Hg2+ sensors; SERS; surface modification; water analysis.