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Updated: Nov 4, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing SERS Technology: Au@Carbon Dot Nanoprobes for Label-Free Analysis and Imaging
Published on: June 9, 2023
Reproducible, shelf-stable, and bioaffinity SERS nanotags inspired by multivariate polyphenolic chemistry for
Lunjie Huang1, Da-Wen Sun2, Zhihui Wu1
1School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China; Academy of Contemporary Food Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China; Engineering and Technological Research Centre of Guangdong Province on Intelligent Sensing and Process Control of Cold Chain Foods, & Guangdong Province Engineering Laboratory for Intelligent Cold Chain Logistics Equipment for Agricultural Products, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Abstract:
Efficient identification of pathogenic bacteria is greatly concerned with microbial food safety and foodborne diseases diagnosis. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) tags are among the cutting-edge tools for bioanalysis, but facing troubles in either SERS sensitivity, durability, interfering signals, or universal recognition agents for target bacteria. This work proposed a multivariate scheme enabled by polyphenolic chemistry for the green synthesis, facile stabilization (functionalization), protective encapsulation, and bio-affinitive design of metal-phenolic networks (MPNs)-encapsulated silver SERS nanotags (AgNPs@4-mercaptobenzonitrile@MPNs). With remarkable SERS properties, shelf stability, and bacterial affinity, AgNPs@4-mercaptobenzonitrile@MPNs tags enabled rapid, reproducible, and interference-free SERS detection of two representative foodborne pathogens (i.e., E. coli O157: H7 and S. aureus) in the assistance of an aptamer-labelled magnetic probe, reaching good sensitivity and selectivity. Moreover, this SERS biosensor worked well in real food samples, manifesting the potential of polyphenolic chemistry in the customization of bio-affinitive SERS nanotags for food safety detection.
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