A Triple Functional Approach To Simultaneously Determine the Type, Concentration, and Size of Titanium Dioxide Particles

The large-scale manufacturing and use of titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles in food and consumer products significantly increase the likelihood of human exposure and release into the environment. We present a simple and innovative approach to rapidly identify the type (anatase or rutile), as well as to estimate, the size and concentration of TiO2 particles using Raman spectroscopy and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The identification and discrimination of rutile and anatase were based on their intrinsic Raman signatures. The concentration of the TiO2 particles was determined based on Raman peak intensity. Particle sizes were estimated based on the ratio between the Raman intensity of TiO2 and the SERS intensity of myricetin bound to the nanoparticles (NPs), which was proven to be independent of TiO2 nanoparticle concentrations. The ratio that was calculated from the 100 nm particles was used as a cutoff value when estimating the presence of nanosized particles within a mixture. We also demonst...