This version is available at https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/54140/ Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Unless otherwise explicitly stated on the manuscript, Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Please check the manuscript for details of any other licences that may have been applied. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or private study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the Strathprints administrator: strathprints@strath.ac.ukThe Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output.Journal Name Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) can generate characteristic spectral "fingerprints" from metal complexes, thus providing the potential for the development of methods of analysis for the identification and quantitation of a range of metal ions in solution. The advantages include sensitivity and the use of one ligand for several metals without the need for a specific chromophore. Aqueous solutions of Fe(II), Ni(II),
10Zn(II), Cu(II), Cr(III) and Cd(II) in the presence of excess 2,2'-bipyridyl (bipy) were analysed using SERS. Specific marker bands enabled the identification of each metal ion and the limit of detection for each metal ion was estimated. Two of the ions, Zn(II) and Cu(II), could be detected below the World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommended limits for drinking water at levels of 0.22 and 0.6 mg L -1 , respectively.