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Published on: August 7, 2014
Robust SERS Platform Enabled by Silver-Nanoparticle-Loaded Hydrogel Millibeads for Trace Detection in High-Salt and
Xiaotong Su1,2, Ke Liu1,2, Zhiyang Zhang1
1Shandong Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes and Ecological Security, Coastal Zone Ecological Environment Monitoring Technology and Equipment Shandong Engineering Research Center, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China.
None:
Reliable trace detection in complex matrixes (e.g., seawater, biofluids) is challenging for conventional surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platforms due to salt-induced aggregation, protein adsorption, and coffee-ring effects. We present a robust SERS platform using evaporative shrinkage of a silver-nanoparticle (AgNP)-loaded hydrogel millibead (Ag@Gel-MB). The hydrogel millibead selectively enriches analytes while excluding proteins, and its subsequent shrinkage coconcentrates analytes and AgNPs into ultrasmall volumes to form dense hotspots, while the 3D network prevents salt-induced aggregation. Using Nile Blue, we achieved high sensitivity (LOD < 10-10 M), excellent uniformity (RSD ∼ 4.36%), and batch reproducibility (RSD ∼ 4.39%). Unlike droplet methods needing superhydrophobic surfaces, our platform avoids the coffee-ring effect on any support and achieves 15-fold and 100-fold improvements in salt and protein tolerance (150 mM NaCl, 100 μg/mL BSA) over conventional methods. It successfully detected malachite green in seawater and fish serum, demonstrating its practical reliability for the analysis of complex samples.
