Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 22, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancements and Applications in Nanoparticle Synthesis Through Laser Ablation in Liquids
Published on: June 16, 2023
Triple-enhanced Raman scattering sensors from flexible MXene/Au nanocubes platform via attenuating the coffee ring
Xin Liu1, Alei Dang1, Tiehu Li1
1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, PR China; Shannxi Engineering Laboratory for Graphene New Carbon Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, PR China.
Abstract:
Developing substrates that combine sensitivity and signal stability is a major challenge in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) research. Herein, we present a flexible triple-enhanced Raman Scattering MXene/Au nanocubes (AuNCs) sensor fabricated by selective filtration of Ti3C2Tx MXene/AuNCs hybrid on the Ti3C2Tx MXene membrane and subsequent treatment with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoro-octyltriethoxysilane (FOTS). The resultant superhydrophobic MXene/AuNCs-FOTS membrane not only provides the SERS substrate with environmental stability, but also imparts analyte enrichment to enhance the sensitivity (LOD = 1 × 10-14 M) and reliability (RSD = 6.41%) for Rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecules owing to the attenuation of the coffee ring effect. Moreover, the triple enhancement mechanism of combining plasmonic coupling enhancement from plasmonic coupling (EM) of nearby AuNCs at lateral and longitudinal direction of MXene/AuNCs-FOTS membrane, charge transfer (CT) from Ti3C2Tx MXene and target molecules and analyte enrichment function provides the substrate with excellent SERS performance (EF = 3.19 × 109), and allows efficient quantification of biomarkers in urine. This work could provide new insights into MXenes as building blocks for high-performance substrates and fill existing gaps in SERS techniques.
