Development and evaluation of a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) method for the detection of the antioxidant butylated hydroxyanisole

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is a common antioxidant used in foods and food packaging materials, and it can migrate into the food during its supply chain. BHA has been shown to be carcinogenic, which has gained substantial attention in recent years. In this study, the feasibility of using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) coupled with SERS-active gold substrates for rapid detection of trace amounts of BHA was investigated. Raman signals of tested samples were enhanced significantly by SERS. The detection limit of the BHA solution can reach 10 μg/mL by SERS enhanced with 50 nm gold nanoparticles and in a 1.0 pH solution system. The Raman peak at 480 cm−1 was used as the index of quantitative analysis, the line correlation was R 2 = 0.9803. The results showed that the SERS method is useful for sensitive and selective detection of BHA. By comparing the enhanced peak features, the adsorption behavior of BHA on the surface of gold nanoparticles was analyzed in detail and it was determined that the molecule was adsorbed on the gold surface by “Ph-O(H) (Ph = phenyl)”. The benzene ring vibration increased significantly, inferring that the benzene ring is perpendicular to the surface of the gold nanoparticles.