Nanosilver was modified by aptamer (ssDNA) to obtain a resonance scattering (RS) probe (AgssDNA) for melamine (MA). Based on the catalytic effect of the probe on the Fehling particle reaction, a nanocatalytic RS assay is proposed for the determination of 0.02–1.06 μg L⁻¹ MA.

The stable silver nanorod (AgNR) sol in red was prepared by the two-step procedure of NaBH₄-H₂O₂ and citrate heating reduction. The AgNR had a transverse and a longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption peak at 338 nm and 480 nm. Meanwhile, two transverse and longitudinal SPR Rayleigh scattering (SPR-RS) peaks at 340 nm and 500 nm were observed firstly using common fluorescence spectrometer. The SPR absorption, RS, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and electron microscope technology were used to study the formation mechanism of red silver nanorods and the SERS enhancement mechanism of nano-aggregation. The AgNR-BPO SPR absorption and AgNR-NaCl-BPO SPR-RS analytical systems were studied to develop two new simple, rapid and low-cost SPR methods for the detection of trace BPO.

The reduced graphene oxide/silver nanotriangle (rGO/AgNT) composite sol was prepared by the reduction of silver ions with sodium borohydride in the presence of H₂O₂ and sodium citrate. In the nanosol substrate, the molecular probe of acridine red (AR) exhibited a weak surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) peak at 1506 cm⁻¹ due to its interaction with the rGO of rGO/AgNT. Upon addition of dopamine (DA), the competitive adsorption between DA and AR with the rGO took place, and the AR molecules were adsorbed on the AgNT aggregates with a strong SERS peak at 1506 cm⁻¹ that caused the SERS peak increase. The increased SERS intensity is linear to the DA concentration in the range of 2.5–500 μmol/L. This new analytical system was investigated by SERS, fluorescence, absorption, transmission electron microscope (TEM), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques, and a SERS quantitative analysis method for DA was established, using AR as a label-free molecular probe.