Dual-functional magnetic MXene@FeO@ag NPs with synergistic enhancement for SERS detection and photo-Fenton degradation of organic pollutants.

Simultaneously achieving sensitive detection and efficient degradation of organic pollutants remains a challenging task. Dual-functional MXene@FeO@Ag NPs nanosheets was fabricated via co-precipitation and electrostatic self-assembly techniques to enhance synergistic effect of SERS detction and photo-Fenton catalysis for organic pollutants degradation, respectively. The synergistic interplay of electromagnetic and chemical enhancement was responsible for excellent SERS sensitivity of MXene@FeO@Ag NPs, as confirmed by Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. The limit of detection (LOD) of SERS substrates for crystal violet (CV) as low as 1.08 × 10 M. Notably, MXene@FeO@Ag NPs demonstrated high degradation capacity, the degradation rate of CV reached 91.5 % within 40 min, representing an enhancement of 1.77 times compared to FeO alone. The composite's magnetic properties also facilitated easy recovery and reuse, with the material maintaining its outstanding SERS sensitivity even after eight cycles, and sustaining strong photocatalytic performance after three cycles. The enhancement mechanism of SERS and the interpretation of catalytic phenomena provide promising guidance for providing a low-cost and stable composite SERS platform in the detection and treatment of emerging contaminants.