Preparation of Fe3O4@PDA@Au@GO Composite as SERS Substrate and Its Application in the Enrichment and Detection for Phenanthrene

In this study, highly active Fe3O4@PDA@Au@GO surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) active substrate was synthesized for application in the enrichment and detection of trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the environment. The morphology and structure were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV–visible absorption spectrum (UV–vis spectra). The effect of each component of Fe3O4@PDA@Au@GO nanocomposites on SERS was explored, and it was found that gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are crucial to enhance the Raman signal based on the electromagnetic enhancement mechanism, and apart from enriching the PAHs through π–π interaction, graphene oxide (GO) also generates strong chemical enhancement of Raman signals, and polydopamine (PDA) can prevent Au from shedding and agglomeration. The existence of Fe3O4 aided the quick separation of substrate from the solutions, which greatly simplified the detection procedure and facilitated the reuse of the substrate. The SERS active substrate was used to detect phenanthrene in aqueous solution with a detection limit of 10−7 g/L (5.6 × 10−10 mol/L), which is much lower than that of ordinary Raman, it is promising for application in the enrichment and detection of trace PAHs.

Excitation Conditions for Surface-Enhanced Hyper Raman Scattering With Biocompatible Gold Nanosubstrates

Surface enhanced hyper Raman scattering (SEHRS) can provide many advantages to probing of biological samples due to unique surface sensitivity and vibrational information complementary to surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). To explore the conditions for an optimum electromagnetic enhancement of SEHRS by dimers of biocompatible gold nanospheres and gold nanorods, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations were carried out for a broad range of excitation wavelengths from the visible through the short-wave infrared (SWIR). The results confirm an important contribution by the enhancement of the intensity of the laser field, due to the two-photon, non-linear excitation of the effect. For excitation laser wavelengths above 1,000 nm, the hyper Raman scattering (HRS) field determines the enhancement in SEHRS significantly, despite its linear contribution, due to resonances of the HRS light with plasmon modes of the gold nanodimers. The high robustness of the SEHRS enhancement across the SWIR wavelength range can compensate for variations in the optical properties of gold nanostructures in real biological environments.

Ag–ZnO Nanocomposites Are Used for SERS Substrates and Promote the Coupling Reaction of PATP

Noble metal-semiconductor nanocomposites have received extensive attention in Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) due to their unique properties. In this paper, the Ag–ZnO nanocomposites are prepared by hydrothermal growth and simple chemical reduction immersion. The synthesized nanocomposite material simultaneously integrates the individual enhancement effects of the two materials in the SERS, such as the electromagnetic enhancement of silver nanoparticles and the chemical enhancement of ZnO semiconductor materials. Using this substrate, Rhodamine 6G molecules with a concentration as low as 10−8 M can be detected, and the coupling reaction of PATP can be effectively promoted. The nanocomposite materials prepared by selecting appropriate semiconductor materials and metal materials combined, could be potentially applied, as SERS substrates, in certain catalytic reactions.

Driving energetically unfavorable dehydrogenation dynamics with plasmonics

Nanoparticle surface structure and geometry generally dictate where chemical transformations occur, with higher chemical activity at sites with lower activation energies. Here, we show how optical excitation of plasmons enables spatially modified phase transformations, activating otherwise energetically unfavorable sites. We have designed a crossed-bar Au-PdHx antenna-reactor system that localizes electromagnetic enhancement away from the innately reactive PdHx nanorod tips. Using optically coupled in situ environmental transmission electron microscopy, we track the dehydrogenation of individual antenna-reactor pairs with varying optical illumination intensity, wavelength, and hydrogen pressure. Our in situ experiments show that plasmons enable new catalytic sites, including dehydrogenation at the nanorod faces. Molecular dynamics simulations confirm that these new nucleation sites are energetically unfavorable in equilibrium and only accessible through tailored plasmonic excitation.

A novel sensitive ACNTs-MoO2 SERS substrate boosted by synergistic enhancement effect

Integrating chemical enhancement (CM) and electromagnetic enhancement (EM) into one substrate is of great significance, but as far as we know, little research has been done on this project. In...

High-index Facets and Multidimensional Hotspots in Au-Decorated 24-faceted PbS for Ultrasensitive and Recyclable SERS Substrates

The rational manipulation of morphology and architecture of the plasmonic metal/semiconductor hybrids is quite important to improve their SERS performance by optimizing the electromagnetic enhancement and charge transfer. Herein, PbS-Au...

Charge-Transfer Resonance and Electromagnetic Enhancement Synergistically Enabling MXenes with Excellent SERS Sensitivity for SARS-CoV-2 S Protein Detection

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 has seriously threatened human health. Rapidly and sensitively detecting SARS-CoV-2 viruses can help control the spread of viruses. However, it is an arduous challenge to apply semiconductor-based substrates for virus SERS detection due to their poor sensitivity. Therefore, it is worthwhile to search novel semiconductor-based substrates with excellent SERS sensitivity. Herein we report, for the first time, Nb2C and Ta2C MXenes exhibit a remarkable SERS enhancement, which is synergistically enabled by the charge transfer resonance enhancement and electromagnetic enhancement. Their SERS sensitivity is optimized to 3.0 × 106 and 1.4 × 106 under the optimal resonance excitation wavelength of 532 nm. Additionally, remarkable SERS sensitivity endows Ta2C MXenes with capability to sensitively detect and accurately identify the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Moreover, its detection limit is as low as 5 × 10−9 M, which is beneficial to achieve real-time monitoring and early warning of novel coronavirus. This research not only provides helpful theoretical guidance for exploring other novel SERS-active semiconductor-based materials but also provides a potential candidate for the practical applications of SERS technology.