Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of some water insoluble drugs in silver hydrosols

An extraction method has been used to obtain surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of water insoluble drugs such as aspirin, salicylic acid, acetaminophen, and vitamin A acid. This method is based on the strong affinity of the sample molecules to the silver particle surfaces. Results from the present study indicate that the method can be extended to identify and analyze many other water insoluble compounds by SERS. The high sensitivity of SERS and the linear calibration curve make it feasible in the trace quantitative analysis; the low limit of detection is comparable or better than those of calorimetric and spectrophotometric methods.