Recent progress of microfluidics in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic analysis

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Spectroscopy
• Microfluidics

Background:

• Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) offers rapid, ultrasensitive molecular fingerprint identification.
• Current SERS applications face challenges in complex sample analysis, limiting practical use.
• Microfluidics integration promises to overcome these limitations, enhancing SERS performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advancements in combining microfluidics with SERS.
• To highlight four key integration approaches for improved SERS analysis.
• To discuss future challenges and opportunities in this interdisciplinary field.

Main Methods:

• Microfluidic synthesis for uniform nano-/microparticle fabrication for SERS.
• Integration of microchips with SERS substrates for enhanced detection.
• Microfluidic sample preparation for analyte separation and preconcentration.
• Development of highly integrated microfluidic devices for multistep SERS analysis.

Main Results:

• Microfluidic synthesis yields reproducible SERS substrates.
• Integrated microfluidic-SERS devices demonstrate sensitive and efficient detection.
• Microfluidic sample preparation accelerates analyte enrichment for SERS.
• Multistep integrated devices streamline SERS analysis from material fabrication to detection.

Conclusions:

• Microfluidics significantly enhances SERS capabilities for complex samples.
• The reviewed combination approaches offer improved reproducibility, selectivity, sensitivity, and speed.
• Further development is needed to address challenges and fully realize the potential of microfluidic SERS.