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Updated: Feb 28, 2026
Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Detection of Biomolecules Using EBL Fabricated Nanostructured Substrates
Published on: March 20, 2015
Surface enhanced Raman scattering properties of dynamically tunable nanogaps between Au nanoparticles self-assembled
Huilin Li1, Dandan Men2, Yiqiang Sun1
1Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, PR China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China.
Abstract:
We developed an interesting route for preparing a poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (P(AAm-co-AA)) hydrogel microsphere with a coating of Au nanospheres (hydrogel microsphere @ Au nanospheres) through self-assembly based on electrostatic interaction. The fabricated composites could be used as highly sensitive enhanced Raman scattering substrates. The nanogaps between adjacent Au nanospheres were dynamically tuned by volume changes in the hydrogel microspheres in the semiwet state under different pH conditions. At pH 6, the hydrogel microsphere @ Au nanospheres demonstrated highly sensitive SERS with an enhancement factor of 109. The product could detect very low concentrations of analytes up to 10-12M 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) molecules. This paper proposes a new method for detecting trace amounts of environmental organic pollutants by dynamically tuning the SERS enhancement in the semiwet testing state.
