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Long-Range SERS Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 Antigen on a Well-Ordered Gold Hexagonal Nanoplate Film
Ping Wu1, Xiaojun Luo1,2, Yihong Xu1
1Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The development of an effective method for identifying severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) via direct viral protein detection is significant but challenging in combatting the COVID-19 epidemic. As a promising approach for direct detection, viral protein detection using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is limited by the larger viral protein size compared to the effective electromagnetic field (E-field) range because only the analyte remaining within the E-field can achieve high detection sensitivity. In this study, we designed and fabricated a novel long-range SERS (LR-SERS) substrate with an Au nanoplate film/MgF2/Au mirror/glass configuration to boost the LR-SERS resulting from the extended E-field. On applying the LR-SERS to detect the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S protein), reagent-free detection achieved a low detection limit of 9.8 × 10-11 g mL-1 and clear discrimination from the SARS-CoV S protein. The developed technique also allows testing of the S protein in saliva with 98% sensitivity and 100% specificity.
