SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN-SPECTROSCOPY AT A SILVER ELECTRODE AS A DETECTION SYSTEM IN FLOWING STREAMS

An analytical application for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy at a silver electrode is described. Raman spectra of several DNA bases have been recorded in a 30-μL flow cell under flowing conditions. An optical multichannel analyzer allowed high-quality spectra to be recorded with Integration times of less than 5 s. The Raman intensity vs concentration yields a monotonic relationship over 4 orders of magnitude. Limits of detection for adenine, thymine, and cytosine were 175, 233, and 211 pmol, respectively. The samples could be rapidly desorbed off the surface of the electrode in less than 10 s. The technique shows promise as a solute property detector for high-performance liquid chromatography and flow injection analysis. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.