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Observation and Analysis of Blinking Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering
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Improving the Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Performance of Silver Nanodendritic Substrates with Sprayed-On
Aida Mohammadi1, Danielle Lilly Nicholls2, Aristides Docoslis3
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L3N6, Canada. 16am65@queensu.ca.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|October 14, 2018
Summary
Silver nanodendritic structures coated with graphene materials significantly boost surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) coatings showed the most promise for enhancing SERS detection, even for methamphetamine in artificial saliva.
Area of Science:
- Nanomaterials Science
- Spectroscopy
- Surface Chemistry
Background:
- Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful technique for detecting trace analytes.
- Silver nanostructures are commonly used as SERS substrates, but their performance can be further optimized.
- Graphene-based materials offer unique electronic and surface properties that can enhance SERS activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of graphene-based coatings (graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, graphene nanoplatelets) on the SERS performance of silver nanodendritic structures.
- To optimize the spray-coating parameters for applying these graphene materials onto SERS substrates.
- To evaluate the enhanced SERS detection capabilities for analytes like methamphetamine.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of SERS-active substrates using an electric field-guided silver nanoparticle assembly on microelectrode chips.
- Application of graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) coatings via an in-house spray-coating technique.
- Systematic evaluation of SERS enhancement as a function of spray nozzle passes (N) for each coating type.
Main Results:
- Graphene-based coatings significantly improved SERS performance compared to uncoated substrates.
- Optimal SERS enhancements were achieved with specific spray nozzle passes: 2.3-fold for GO (N=25), 2.5-fold for rGO (N=5), and 1.6-fold for GNPs (N=1).
- rGO-coated substrates (N=5) demonstrated a ~3-fold enhancement in methamphetamine detection at 5 ppb in artificial saliva.
Conclusions:
- Spray-coating GO or rGO onto silver nanodendritic SERS substrates is a simple, scalable method to substantially enhance SERS performance.
- Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) shows particular promise for improving the sensitivity of SERS detection for complex samples.
- The optimized graphene-silver nanodendritic hybrid structures offer a viable platform for sensitive analyte detection.
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