ENGINEERED AG/PAN NANOFIBER SERS SENSORS: A MANUFACTURING SOLUTION FOR ETHYLENE GLYCOL CONTAMINATION IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

Abstract

Ethylene glycol (EG) contamination in agricultural products presents a serious food safety hazard due to its high toxicity and difficulty in rapid detection under field conditions. This research addresses the need for a sensitive, rapid, and cost-effective EG detection method. The objective is to develop engineered Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrates based on silver nanoparticle-decorated polyacrylonitrile (Ag/PAN) nanofibers. The novelty lies in the in-situ incorporation of silver nanoparticles via a single-step electrospinning process, enabling precise morphological tuning and enhanced plasmonic hotspot formation. Ag/PAN nanofibers were fabricated under optimized electrospinning parameters (15 kV, 15 cm, 0.1 ml/hr) with silver nitrate concentrations ranging from 0 to 15 wt%. Characterization using SEM, TEM, and EDX confirmed uniform AgNP distribution and diameter reduction with increasing silver content. The SERS performance was evaluated using methylene blue as a model analyte and ethylene glycol as the target contaminant. Results showed that 10 wt% Ag/PAN substrates achieved sub-micromolar detection with 3–4 fold enhancement in EG fingerprint modes and nearly 5-fold in CH stretching regions. The study demonstrates a scalable sensing platform with potential for real-time EG monitoring in food safety applications.