Porous zeolite imidazole framework-wrapped urchin-like Au-Ag nanocrystals for SERS detection of trace hexachlorocyclohexane pesticides via efficient enrichment

A core–shell configuration of the zeolite imidazole framework (ZIF-8) wrapped urchin-like Au-Ag alloyed nanocrystals (UAANs) were designed and fabricated via adding the pre-formed plasmonic nanoparticles into the ZIF-8 precursor solution with hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). The UAANs are about 100 nm in size with high-density tips. The ZIF-8 shell layer is nanoporous and can be controlled in thickness from 10 nm to 40 nm by the CTAB concentration. Importantly, such ZIF-8 wrapped UAANs can be used as the highly efficient surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for detection of the trace hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) molecules. The ZIF-8 shell layer with an appropriate thickness (-∼20 nm) can evidently increase the SERS performance of the UAANs to the trace γ-HCH and α-HCH. Such wrapping-enhanced SERS effect significantly increases, by a power function, with the decreasing HCH concentration, especially in the concentration below 10−6 M, which is attributed to the ever-increasing enrichment effect to the HCH molecules. The detection limit is down below 1.5 ppb. This work presents a highly efficient substrate for the SERS-based detection of the trace HCH, and also displays the potential application in the SERS detection of volatile small molecules.