Surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy for quantifying silver nanoparticles in cotton textiles

Authors: Hillyer, Matthew; Nam, Sunghyun; Condon, Brian; GUO, HULYUAN - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst; HE, LILI - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst; Reynolds, Michael

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/2/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Nearly 30% of all nanotechnology-based commercial products contain silver nanoparticles (nanosilver) due to their remarkable odor-resistant and antimicrobial properties, with cotton textiles as a prominent category. With the projected increase in demand for these products, a simple and quick method for quantifying nanosilver in these materials is required. Current analytical techniques require lack specificity (UV-vis), have complicated sample preparation (ICP-OES), or require expensive equipment (scanning tunneling microscopy). Herein, a facile, selective and sensitive approach for quantifying nanosilver is applied to nanosilver-dispersed cotton textiles.

Technical Abstract: The antimicrobial and odor-resistant properties of silver nanoparticles (nanosilver) have been used in cotton textiles in athletic attire, underwear and military uniforms. Therefore, a simple technique for quantifying nanosilver applied on cotton materials. Inductively couple plasma-optical emission spectrometry is often used but it does not distinguish between nanosilver and ionic silver, and is expensive. Alternatively, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been demonstrated to provide exceptional sensitivity, facile sample preparation, rapid spectrum acquisition, and clearly distinguish between nanosilver over ionic silver. In this study, we demonstrate that SERS can be used to efficiently quantify silver nanoparticles in nanosilver-containing cotton fabrics.