Aluminum sheet induced flower-like carbon nitride anchored with silver nanowires for highly efficient SERS detection of trace malachite green

The sensitive detection of malachite green (MG) in aquaculture wastewater is necessary for its residual poses a great threat to the living systems. Herein, the flower-like C3N4 (f-C3N4) nanostructure induced by Al sheet in the hydrothermal process is constructed. Subsequently, Ag nanowires (AgNWs) supported on Al/f-C3N4 and the strong interaction between AgNWs and Al/f-C3N4 are confirmed by XPS, Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy. Importantly, the portable Al/f-C3N4/AgNWs substrate shows the outstanding SERS response for MG, which is attributed to enhanced electromagnetic effect of AgNWs on large amount of corrugated and creviced regions in the flower-like Al/f-C3N4 and the charge transfer among the components. Also, the prepared Al/f-C3N4 nanostructure provides large specific surface area and abundant "N" active sites for AgNWs, and the high enrichment ability of Al/f-C3N4 towards MG molecules by the strong π-π stacking interaction. The detection limit of Al/f-C3N4/AgNWs for MG is as low as 8.38 × 10-12 mol L-1. The substrate can be reproduced and reused for at least 7 cycles, and the activity can still be kept after laid up for 49 days. Importantly, it unfolds a good sensitivity and selectivity for MG in actual water sample. Results indicate that the Al/f-C3N4/AgNWs substrate has a promising potential in practical application for trace detection of MG.