scholarly journals Silver Flowerlike Structures for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3184
Author(s):  
Gitchka G. Tsutsumanova ◽  
Neno D. Todorov ◽  
Stoyan C. Russev ◽  
Miroslav V. Abrashev ◽  
Victor G. Ivanov ◽  
...  

Micro- and nanoflowers are a class of materials composed of particles with high surface-to-volume ratio. They have been extensively studied in the last decade due to simple preparation protocols and promising applications in biosensing, as drug delivery agents, for water purification, and so on. Flowerlike objects, due to their highly irregular surface, may act also as plasmonic materials, providing resonant coupling between optical waves and surface plasmon excitations. This fact allows us to infer the possibility to use micro- and nanoflowers as effective surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate materials. Here, we report on the design and Raman enhancement properties of silver flowerlike structures, deposited on aluminum surface. A simple and cost-effective fabrication method is described, which leads to SERS substrates of high developed surface area. The morphology of the silver flowers on a nanoscale is characterized by self-organized quasiperiodic stacks of nanosheets, which act as plasmonic cavity resonators. The substrates were tested against rhodamine-6G (R6G) water solutions of concentration varying between 10−3 M and 10−7 M. Optimal SERS enhancement factors of up to 105 were established at R6G concentrations in the 10−6–10−7 M range.

Author(s):  
Victor Genchev Ivanov ◽  
Gitchka Tsutsumanova ◽  
Neno Todorov ◽  
Stoyan Russev ◽  
Miroslav Abrashev ◽  
...  

Micro- and nanoflowers are a class of materials composed of particles with high surface-to-volume ratio. They are being extensively studied in the last decade due to simple preparation protocols and promising applications in biosensing, as drug delivery agents, for water purification and so on. Flowerlike objects, due to their highly irregular surface, may act also as plasmonic materials, providing resonant coupling between optical waves and surface plasmon excitations. This fact infers for the possibility to use micro- and nanoflowers as effective surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate materials. Here, we report on the design and Raman enhancement properties of silver flowerlike structures, deposited on aluminum surface. A simple and cost-effective fabrication method is described, which leads to SERS substrates of high developed surface area. The morphology of the silver flowers on a nanoscale is characterized by self-organized quasiperiodic stacks of nanosheets, which act as plasmonic cavity-resonators. The substrates were tested against rhodamine-6G (R6G) water solutions of concentration varying between 10–3 M and 10–7 M. Optimal SERS enhancement factors of up to 105 were established at R6G concentrations in the range 10–6 – 10–7 M.


2007 ◽  
Vol 2007 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. C. Brown ◽  
Jian Wang ◽  
Martin J. T. Milton

The requirement to optimise the balance between signal enhancement and reproducibility in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is stimulating the development of novel substrates for enhancing Raman signals. This paper describes the application of finite element electromagnetic modelling to predict the Raman enhancement produced from a variety of SERS substrates with differently sized, spaced and shaped morphologies with nanometre dimensions. For the first time, a theoretical comparison between four major generic types of SERS substrate (including metal nanoparticles, structured surfaces, and sharp tips) has been performed and the results are presented and discussed. The results of the modelling are consistent with published experimental data from similar substrates.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (18) ◽  
pp. 3966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wending Zhang ◽  
Tianyang Xue ◽  
Lu Zhang ◽  
Fanfan Lu ◽  
Min Liu ◽  
...  

In this paper, we present a convenient and economical method to fabricate a silver (Ag)-film semi-coated polystyrene (PS) nanosphere array substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The SERS substrate was fabricated using the modified self-assembled method combined with the vacuum thermal evaporation method. By changing the thickness of the Ag film, the surface morphology of the Ag film coated on the PS nanospheres can be adjusted to obtain the optimized localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) effect. The 3D-finite-difference time-domain simulation results show that the SERS substrate with an Ag film thickness of 10 nm has tens of times the electric field intensity enhancement. The Raman examination results show that the SERS substrate has excellent reliability and sensitivity using rhodamine-6G (R6G) and rhodamine-B (RB) as target analytes, and the Raman sensitivity can reach 10−10 M. Meanwhile, the SERS substrate has excellent uniformity based on the Raman mapping result. The Raman enhancement factor of the SERS substrate was estimated to be 5.1 × 106. This kind of fabrication method for the SERS substrate may be used in some applications of Raman examination.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 886
Author(s):  
Massimo Rippa ◽  
Riccardo Castagna ◽  
Domenico Sagnelli ◽  
Ambra Vestri ◽  
Giorgia Borriello ◽  
...  

Brucella is a foodborne pathogen globally affecting both the economy and healthcare. Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) nano-biosensing can be a promising strategy for its detection. We combined high-performance quasi-crystal patterned nanocavities for Raman enhancement with the use of covalently immobilized Tbilisi bacteriophages as high-performing bio-receptors. We coupled our efficient SERS nano-biosensor to a Raman system to develop an on-field phage-based bio-sensing platform capable of monitoring the target bacteria. The developed biosensor allowed us to identify Brucella abortus in milk by our portable SERS device. Upon bacterial capture from samples (104 cells), a signal related to the pathogen recognition was observed, proving the concrete applicability of our system for on-site and in-food detection.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 587
Author(s):  
Zirui Wang ◽  
Yanyan Huo ◽  
Tingyin Ning ◽  
Runcheng Liu ◽  
Zhipeng Zha ◽  
...  

Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs), supporting surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), and highly confined bulk plasmon polaritons (BPPs) possess promising potential for application as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. In the present study, a composite SERS substrate based on a multilayer HMM and gold-nanoparticle (Au-NP) layer was fabricated. A strong electromagnetic field was generated at the nanogaps of the Au NPs under the coupling between localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and a BPP. Additionally, a simulation of the composite structure was assessed using COMSOL; the results complied with those achieved through experiments: the SERS performance was enhanced, while the enhancing rate was downregulated, with the extension of the HMM periods. Furthermore, this structure exhibited high detection performance. During the experiments, rhodamine 6G (R6G) and malachite green (MG) acted as the probe molecules, and the limits of detection of the SERS substrate reached 10−10 and 10−8 M for R6G and MG, respectively. Moreover, the composite structure demonstrated prominent reproducibility and stability. The mentioned promising results reveal that the composite structure could have extensive applications, such as in biosensors and food safety inspection.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 518
Author(s):  
Margherita Longoni ◽  
Maria Sole Zalaffi ◽  
Lavinia de Ferri ◽  
Angela Maria Stortini ◽  
Giulio Pojana ◽  
...  

The electrochemical preparation of arrays of copper ultramicrowires (CuUWs) by using porous membranes as templates is critically revisited, with the goal of obtaining cheap but efficient substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The role of the materials used for the electrodeposition is examined, comparing membranes of anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) vs. track-etched polycarbonate (PC) as well as copper vs. glassy carbon (GC) as electrode material. A voltammetric study performed on bare electrodes and potentiostatic tests on membrane coated electrodes allowed the optimization of the deposition parameters. The final arrays of CuUWs were obtained by chemical etching of the template, with NaOH for AAO and CH2Cl2 for PC. After total etching of the template, SERS spectra were recorded on CuUWs using benzenethiol as SERS probe with known spectral features. The CuUW substrates displayed good SERS properties, providing enhancement factor in the 103–104 range. Finally, it was demonstrated that higher Raman enhancement can be achieved when CuUWs are decorated with silver nanostars, supporting the formation of SERS active hot-spots at the bimetallic interface.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi Bai ◽  
Yongjun Du ◽  
Chunyan Wang ◽  
Jian Wu ◽  
Koji Sugioka

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has advanced over the last four decades and has become an attractive tool for highly sensitive analysis in fields such as medicine and environmental monitoring. Recently, there has been an urgent demand for reusable and long-lived SERS substrates as a means of reducing the costs associated with this technique To this end, we fabricated a SERS substrate comprising a silicon nanowire array coated with silver nanoparticles, using metal-assisted chemical etching followed by photonic reduction. The morphology and growth mechanism of the SERS substrate were carefully examined and the performance of the fabricated SERS substrate was tested using rhodamine 6G and dopamine hydrochloride. The data show that this new substrate provides an enhancement factor of nearly 1 × 108. This work demonstrates that a silicon nanowire array coated with silver nanoparticles is sensitive and sufficiently robust to allow repeated reuse. These results suggest that this newly developed technique could allow SERS to be used in many commercial applications.


2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Awatef Ouhibi ◽  
Maroua Saadaoui ◽  
Nathalie Lorrain ◽  
Mohammed Guendouz ◽  
Noureddine Raouafi ◽  
...  

In this work, we combined a hierarchical nano-array effect of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with a metallic surface of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to design a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) scattering substrate for sensitive detection of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) which is a typical dye for fluorescence probes. The SiNWs were prepared by Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching (MACE) of n-Si (100) wafers. The Doehlert design methodology was used for planning the experiment and analyzing the experimental results. Thanks to this methodology, the R6G SERS response has been optimized by studying the effects of the silver nitrate concentration, silver nitrate and R6G immersion times and their interactions. The immersion time in R6G solution stands out as the most of influential factor on the SERS response.


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