Newly designed silver coated-magnetic, monodisperse polymeric microbeads as SERS substrate for low-level detection of amoxicillin

•A new SERS platform was synthesized.•Low level detection of antibiotics was done.•The method was 1000-fold sensitive than conventional assay.

We report the preparation of silver-coated magnetic polymethacrylate core–shell nanoparticles for use in surface-enhanced Raman scattering based drug detection. Monodisperse porous poly (mono-2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl succinate-co-glycerol dimethacrylate), poly (MMES-co-GDMA) microbeads of ca. 5 μm diameter were first synthesized through a multistage microsuspension polymerization technique to serve as a carboxyl-bearing core region. Microspheres were subsequently magnetized by the co-precipitation of ferric ions, aminated through the surface hydroxyl groups and decorated with Au nanoparticles via electrostatic attraction. An Ag shell was then formed on top of the Au layer through a seed-mediated growth process, resulting in micron-sized monodisperse microbeads that exhibit Raman enhancement effects due to the roughness of the Ag surface layer. The core–shell microspheres were used as a new substrate for the detection of amoxicillin at trace concentrations up to 10−8 M by SERS. The proposed SERS platform can be evaluated as a useful tool for the follow-up amoxicillin pollution and low-level detection of amoxicillin in aqueous media.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide