MOF-gold core-satellite nanostructure based SERS platform for fentanyl detection in multiple complex samples

As one of the potent synthetic opioids, fentanyl is liable to be adulterated with illicit drugs, which raises the risk of drug overdose and has emerged as a potential threat to public health. In field testing, rapid identification of fentanyl from adulterated or complex biological samples is critical. Given the advantages of Raman spectroscopy in fingerprint identification and the portability of the equipment, it is undoubtedly an excellent alternative. Here, we designed and fabricated a novel SERS substrate by amino-triggered growth of AuNPs satellite surrounding fentanyl-affiliative NH2-MIL-101(Fe). The obtained NH2-MIL-101 @AuNPs play a dual role, i) fentanyl adsorption; ii) hot spots enhanced Raman signals. With the aid of NaI, a highly sensitive and specific detection of fentanyl was achieved. Furthermore, fentanyl-d5 was used as an internal standard to calibrate the signal of fentanyl for a more reliable determination. The integrated NH2-MIL-101 @AuNPs platform was further explored for the quantitative detection of fentanyl in complex biological samples. Notably, the background interference of plasma was effectively eliminated by the addition of BSA. This integrative approach has the potential to be applied to other framework materials for sensing and detection of various analytes, which opens up a more comprehensive range of applications for MOFs.