Ag-Coated Ternary Layered Double Hydroxide as a High-Performance SERS Sensor for Aldehydes

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are common environmental pollutants and important biomarkers for early diagnosis of lung cancer. However, aldehydes are difficult to detect directly due to their small Raman scattering cross-section and gaseous phase. Here, a Ag-coated ternary layered double hydroxide (LDH) was designed for the detection and identification of various aldehydes. The specific surface area of CoNi-LDH was increased by doping Fe³⁺, which provides abundant active sites to capture gas molecules. Furthermore, the energy band gap (E_g) was decreased due to the local amorphous FeCoNi-LDH with an extended band tail, promoting the excitonic transition of Fe_0.07(CoNi)_0.93-LDH. In addition, the Fermi level of Ag prevented the recombination of electron–hole pairs of Fe_0.07(CoNi)_0.93-LDH, providing a new bridge for charge transfer between the substrate and the molecule. Ag/Fe_0.07(CoNi)_0.93-LDH presented excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance for aldehyde VOCs by modification with 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) to capture aldehydes and realized the detection of benzaldehyde (BZA) at 10 ppb. The enhancement and Raman shift of the b₂ mode indicated the contribution of chemical enhancement to the SERS system, so the substrate presented good uniformity. The recycling of the SERS substrate is realized based on the reversibility of the Schiff base reaction. These results manifested that Ag/FeCoNi-LDH has a wide prospect in the application in the trace detection of aldehydes.