Ultra sensitive detection of malachite green in fish muscle with gold nanoparticles and graphene oxide hybrid as a substrate for surface enhanced Raman scattering

Malachite green (MG) is a banned fish drug, but is often found in various aquatic food products. In this study, Au nanoparticles (NPs) were incorporated with graphene oxide (GO) to fabricate Au NPs-GO hybrid films as surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate for MG detection. The enhancement effect of the hybrid substrate for SERS signal of MG as influenced by GO concentration, size of Au NPs and pretreatment method for quartz sheets were evaluated. The optimal Au NPs-GO substrate was used to detect MG in fish muscle with SERS technology. The lowest detectable concentration for MG standard solution was 0.01 ng/mL, and the concentration of 0.25 ng/g could be detected in the muscle extracts of two different fish. SERS combined with Au NPs-GO hybrid substrate shows great potential for detection of trace amounts of MG in aquatic products.