Application of photographic paper as a substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

It is shown that commercially available photographic paper for black and wh ite prints can be used to generate attractive SERS-active silver surfaces, provided that a number of precautions are taken during the preparation proc ess, e.g. illumination has to be done with light of low intensity, developi ng must be performed with a high concentration of sulphite and hardening wi th thiosulphate must be omitted. With oxazine 170 as test sample, the SERS signal intensity proved to be independent of exposure time by the probe las er and highly reproducible from sample to sample, even if the processed pho tographic paper was stored for some time. The prospects for applications of this SERS substrate for analytical purposes are therefore promising. (C) 1 998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.