Particulate matters (PMs), which are condensed from air pollutants, pose severe health threats in many industrialized countries. Various chemical analyses of the particulate matters are crucial to specify their air pollutant sources and reduce PMs. Here, we report a chemical analysis technique for the PMs based on Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). Distinctive Raman spectroscopic signals are detected from PMs whose surface are dispersed with gold nanoparticle aggregates. By exploiting the molecular specific sensitivity of SERS, we distinguish between the PMs according to their sources. To be specific, artificially generated PM materials as a reference are successfully distinguished from soil dusts collected from on-site. This work would pave a way towards identifying the PMs according to their sources and developing an on-site chemical analysis of PMs.

Date Published: 9 September 2019
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 11082, Plasmonics: Design, Materials, Fabrication, Characterization, and Applications XVII, 110822A (9 September 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2529210

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11082:
Plasmonics: Design, Materials, Fabrication, Characterization, and Applications XVII
Din Ping Tsai; Takuo Tanaka, Editor(s)