Silver-loaded graphene as an effective SERS substrate for clotrimazole detection: DFT and spectroscopic studies

Vibrational infrared, Raman and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of clotrimazole (CTZ) were documented and evaluated. Density-functional theory, B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p), approach was implemented to identify the possible conformations, develop the electrostatic potential map, evaluate frontier molecular orbitals and calculate the vibrational spectra of the target compound. The silver-loaded graphene was shown to be an effective SERS substrate for CTZ trace detection. The SERS spectrum showed two enhanced bands at 670 cm⁻¹ and 700 cm⁻¹ which confirmed the absorption of the silver substrate through chlorine and nitrogen atoms. A detection limit as low as 5 nM could be reached with a determination coefficient of 0.9988 using the band at 670 cm⁻¹. The protein-ligand interaction with Secreted Aspartic Proteinase 2 (SAP2) of C. albicans showed that the four stable forms of CTZ maintain a free energy of binding of 6–7 kcal/mol, which could give insights into the mode of action in treating Candidiasis.