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Hierarchical Pore Engineering Overcomes Diffusion Barriers in SERS Gas Sensors for 1 ppt-Level Bacterial Viability
Yichuan Kou1, Renxian Gao2, Hao Jiang1
1College of Physical Science and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Energy, School of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
A novel hierarchical pore metastructure (HPMS) enhances gas molecule transfer to SERS substrates, improving gas analysis. This strategy achieves high sensitivity for bacterial metabolite detection and real-time viability monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Analytical Chemistry
- Materials Science
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Diffusion limitations at gas-solid interfaces impede surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) gas analysis.
- Optimizing mass transfer is crucial for enhancing SERS sensitivity and performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a gas-flow modulation strategy using a hierarchical pore metastructure (HPMS) to overcome diffusion limitations in SERS gas analysis.
- To investigate the synergistic relationship between mass transfer and sensing performance in SERS systems.
- To apply the HPMS strategy for live bacterial metabolic monitoring.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a hierarchical pore metastructure (HPMS).
- Fluid dynamics simulations to analyze gas molecule transport and analyte concentration.
- Electromagnetic field simulations to evaluate plasmonic hot spot generation and laser utilization.
- Application of the HPMS strategy for dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) detection and bacterial viability monitoring.
Main Results:
- The HPMS effectively increased analyte concentration and area-averaged velocity near the SERS substrate.
- In situ grown silver nanoparticles within the HPMS generated dense 3D plasmonic hot spots, enhancing laser utilization.
- Achieved a detection sensitivity of 1 part per trillion (ppt) for gaseous dimethyl disulfide (DMDS).
- Demonstrated real-time bacterial viability monitoring within 30 minutes.
Conclusions:
- The HPMS-based gas-flow modulation strategy significantly enhances SERS gas analysis by optimizing mass transfer and plasmonic properties.
- This approach offers a universal solution for gas detection with solid SERS substrates.
- The strategy shows great potential for advancing SERS-based gas analysis technologies, particularly in biological applications like bacterial monitoring.
