The availability of new surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates is essential to develop
quantitative analytical methods. Electrochemistry is an easy, fast and reproducible methodology to prepare SERS
substrates on screen-printed electrodes (SPEs).
Results: This work proposes new SPEs based on a three-electrode system all made of silver. Using the same ink for
the whole electrode system facilitates the fabrication process, reduces production costs, and leads to excellent
analytical performance. The results showed that Raman enhancement depends strongly on the type of silver ink.
To demonstrate the capabilities of the new electrodes developed, 4-aminosalicylic acid was determined in
complex matrices and in the presence of strong interfering compounds such as salicylic acid and acetylsalicylic
acid. The proposed analytical method is based on the electrochemical surface oxidation enhanced Raman scat
tering (EC-SOERS) strategy. AgCl nanocrystals are generated on the working electrode surface, which amplify the Raman signal of 4-aminosalicylic acid. Good figures of merit were obtained both in the absence and in the
presence of the interfering compounds, achieving a correct estimation of a 4-aminosalicylic test sample in
complex matrices.
Significance: The new SPEs have been demonstrated to be very sensitive and reproducible which, together to the
high specificity of the Raman signal, makes this methodology very attractive for chemical analysis.
