Detection of Paracetamol in Water and Urea in Artificial Urine with Gold Nanoparticle@Al Foil Cost-Efficient SERS Substrate

Abstract

The study demonstrates a cost‑efficient and easy‑to‑prepare hybrid SERS substrate consisting of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on untreated aluminum foil (AlF). It effectively detects paracetamol in water and urea in artificial urine. For paracetamol, the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.1 mM—tenfold better than previously reported SERS methods. For urea, the substrate on Al foil achieved comparable sensitivity (LOD ≈ 0.024 M and LOQ ≈ 0.026 M) to Au film substrates, with superior linearity (R² = 0.98) in the physiologically relevant concentration range (0.03–0.15 M)