Defect-Engineered Coordination Compound Nanoparticles Based on Prussian Blue Analogues for Surface-Enhanced Raman...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is vital for label-free chemical analysis.
• Traditional metallic SERS substrates face challenges in reproducibility and biocompatibility.
• Nonmetallic SERS substrates, especially nanoparticles, offer potential but remain underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce defect-engineered coordination compounds (DECCs) based on Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) as novel nonmetallic nanoparticle SERS substrates.
• To demonstrate the chemical mechanism (CM)-based signal enhancement capabilities of these DECCs.
• To establish a flexible platform for developing diverse SERS substrates for biomolecule analysis.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized nonmetallic nanoparticles using a DECC template based on PBAs.
• Incorporated various metal (M) elements into the PBA structure.
• Evaluated the SERS performance of the synthesized M-PBA-based DECC nanoparticles.

Main Results:

• Achieved substantial chemical mechanism (CM)-based enhancements to the Raman signal, reaching approximately a 10⁸-fold increase.
• Demonstrated the utility and flexibility of the DECC template for creating tailored SERS substrates.
• Showcased the potential for analyzing a wide range of target molecules, particularly biomolecules.

Conclusions:

• DECCs based on PBAs represent a pioneering class of nonmetallic nanoparticle SERS substrates.
• This approach enables straightforward and systematic exploration of new SERS materials.
• Offers a promising avenue for advanced, label-free analysis, especially for biomolecules.