Three-Dimensional Ribbon-Like Gold Nanoparticle Assemblies on MXene for Detection of Creatinine by Surface-Enhanced...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Creatinine is a key biomarker for assessing renal function.
• Accurate and efficient creatinine detection is vital for clinical diagnosis and disease monitoring.
• MXene and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) offer synergistic properties for ultrasensitive detection via surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop novel SERS substrates for ultrasensitive creatinine detection.
• To investigate the performance of MXene-based substrates functionalized with different gold nanoparticle configurations.
• To establish a sensitive and rapid method for creatinine detection in aqueous solutions.

Main Methods:

• Large-scale production of ultrathin Ti3C2-MXene films via interfacial self-assembly.
• Assembly of a uniform AuNP monolayer and 3D ribbon-like AuNP assemblies (RAuNPs) on MXene surfaces.
• Characterization of SERS activity using Rhodamine 6G (R6G) and evaluation of creatinine detection performance.

Main Results:

• Two SERS substrates, AuNPs/MXene and RAuNPs/MXene, were successfully fabricated.
• The AuNPs/MXene substrate detected creatinine in the range of 1 × 10⁻⁴ to 1 × 10⁻⁸ M with a LOD of 287 nM.
• The RAuNPs/MXene substrate demonstrated superior performance, detecting creatinine from 1 × 10⁻³ to 1 × 10⁻¹⁰ M with a LOD of 2.64 nM.

Conclusions:

• The RAuNPs/MXene substrate exhibits outstanding SERS properties for creatinine detection.
• This developed substrate holds significant promise for rapid and highly sensitive clinical diagnostics of renal function.
• The study highlights the potential of tailored MXene-AuNP nanostructures for advanced sensing applications.