Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic studies on magnetic Fe3O4@AuAg alloy core-shell nanoparticles

A facile approach has been developed to fabricate multifunctional Fe3O4@AuAg alloy core-shell nanoparticles, owning the magnetism of the core and the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) activities of the alloy shell. By changing the amount of HAuCl4 and AgNO3, Fe3O4@AuAg alloy nanoparticles with different component ratios of Au and Ag were successfully prepared. The surface plasmon resonance of the composition was linearly tuned in a wide range by varying the molar fraction of Ag and Au, suggesting the formation of AuAg alloy shell. SERS and magnetic enrichment effects were investigated by using thiophenol (TP) as the probe molecule. The SERS intensity was strongly dependent on the molar ratios of Au and Ag and the excitation line. Enrichment for the molecules with low concentration and on line SERS monitoring experiments were performed through combining the magnetism of the core and the SERS effect of the alloy shell. The results revealed that the magnetic enrichment efficiency was dramatically increased due to the strong magnetism of Fe3O4 core. In addition, the Fe3O4@AuAg nanoparticles were also used in the microfluidic chip to continuously detect different flowing solution in the channel. The detection time and amount of analyte were successfully decreased.