{
  "abstract": "Organic contaminants in natural waters threaten ecosystems and human health, motivating integrated strategies for trace-level monitoring. Although surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) offers molecular specificity and trace-level sensitivity, many platforms require separate preconcentration, provide limited control over analyte delivery to plasmonic hot spots, and lose performance in complex water matrices. Here, a poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBAX)-coated Ag nanogap–cellulose concentrator is reported, coupling self-driven interfacial enrichment with Raman readout through an amphiphilic, chemically heterogeneous, mixed-polarity interface. The engineered interface enabled charge-diverse partitioning of cationic and anionic molecular probes down to 10 -10 M across a broad pH range. Relative to the uncoated sensor, interfacial enrichment coupled to Ag nanogaps lowered SERS detection limits by up to 3,100-fold, reaching 1.1 × 10 -11 M for crystal violet and 2.3 × 10 -9 M for methyl orange. In untreated tap and lake water, the coated sensor resolved crystal violet and methyl orange fingerprints that were weak or variable on the uncoated sensor and identified acetamiprid and thymol within 30 min. These results show that coupling interfacial concentration with nanogap-mediated molecular readout establishes an integrated route for passive monitoring of trace contaminants in complex water matrices.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering",
    "University of California, Berkeley",
    "Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology",
    "Konkuk University",
    "Department of Energy Engineering",
    "Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH)",
    "Energy Storage & Distributed Resources Division",
    "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Jonghyun Shin",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8191-7192"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Young Jun Kim",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5627-644X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yaprak Özbakir",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6092-641X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tzu-Chiao Wei",
      "orcid": "0009-0008-7805-0717"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Cho-Hee Yang",
      "orcid": "0009-0004-3733-6859"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Jiwoo Ko"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Chuhyung Kim",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5366-4431"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Bong-Hyun Jun",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6556-7946"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Carlo Carraro",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3482-9226"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Roya Maboudian",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5121-6560"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dr49trg89rq57.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15009784/v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "dr49trg89rq57",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009784/v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2504|Gold and Silver Nanoparticles Synthesis and Applications"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215843272",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-02",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dr49trg89rq57.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15009784",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009784/v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2504|Gold and Silver Nanoparticles Synthesis and Applications",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Drop-in Silver Nanogap−Cellulose Concentrator for Surface-Enhanced Raman Monitoring of Water Contaminants",
  "title_text": "Drop-in Silver Nanogap−Cellulose Concentrator for Surface-Enhanced Raman Monitoring of Water Contaminants",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dr49trg89rq57",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}