Surface-enhanced fluorescence and application study based on Ag-wheat leaves

Wheat leaves with natural microstructures as substrates were covered by the silver nanoislands by magnetron to prepare a low-cost, environment-friendly and mass production surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF) substrate (Ag-WL substrate). The best SEF substrate was selected by repeatly certifying the fluorescence intensity of 10^-5 M Rhodamine B (RB) and 10^-5 M Rhodamine 6G (R6G) aqueous solutions. The abundant semi-spherical protrusions and flake-like structures on the surface of the Ag-WL substrate produce high-density hot spots, which provides a new and simple idea for the preparation of biomimetic materials. The results of 3D finite-different time-domain (FDTD) simulation show that the nanoisland gap of semi-spherical protrusions and flake-like structures has produced rich hotspots. By adjusting the time of magnetron sputtering, the enhancement factor (EF) was as high as 839 times, relative standard deviation (RSD) reached as low as 10.7%, and the substrate was very stable and repeatable, which shows that Ag-WL substrate is trustworthy. Moreover, semi-spherical protrusions provide stronger surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effects compared to flake-like structure. What is more surprising is that the detection limit of the substrate for toxic substance crystal violet (CV) is as low as 10^-10 M.     

Nanoflower-like Ag/AAO SERS platform with quasi-photonic crystal nanostructure for efficient detection of goat serum

An effective SERS-based detection method has been developed to quantitatively diagnose the goat serum which overcomes the problem of diffusion limitation in traditional heterogeneous immunoassay. In this work, the ultra-sensitive silver/anodic aluminum oxide (Ag/AAO) SERS platform was explored via magnetron sputtering which can precisely control the sample morphology and intergap distances. Results indicated that the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect was sharply strengthened as the sub-10 nm nanogaps generated and the enhancement factor (EF) for crystal violet (CV) was calculated to be 3.677 × 10⁷. This novel Ag/AAO substrate with substantial “hot spots” exhibited high SERS sensitivity which could obtain extremely low limits of detection (LOD) of 10⁻¹² M for CV. Importantly, this SERS platform was employed to detect goat serum and reached a LOD at 1 ng/μl. As a nondestructive detection technique, our SERS-based methodology required small sample quantity which expected to achieve more biomolecular detection.     

银纳米粒子的SERS效应和SEF效应在微流控芯片光学检测中的应用

银纳米离子的SERS技术和SEF技术的信号检测灵敏度非常高,可以用在微流控芯片的定量分析中。为了提高微流控芯片光学检测技术的检测精度,提出一种在微通道中添加银纳米粒子来增强SYBR GreenⅠ拉曼和荧光信号的方法,并对该方法的原理和增强效果进行了研究。首先,利用准分子激光器在PMMA基板上直写刻蚀出宽200 μm、深68 μm的微通道,接着将制备的银前体溶液加入微通道,通过加热制备出表面增强拉曼（SERS）和表面增强荧光（SEF）基板,接下来对添加银纳米粒子前后的拉曼和荧光信号分别进行对比,进一步研究了微通道中不同浓度银纳米粒子对SYBR GREEN I的拉曼和荧光信号增强效果。添加银纳米粒子后,表面增强拉曼（SERS）实验的增强因子为3.5×10³,添加银纳米粒子的样品的荧光信号强度与不含银纳米粒子样品的荧光信号强度相比,约增加了1倍。结果表明,在微通道中检测SYBR Green I时通过增加银纳米粒子显著地增强了拉曼和荧光信号,这种方法可以用在以SYBR GreenⅠ做染料的微流控芯片检测技术中。     

Preparation,characterization, and electrochemical performances of graphene/Ni(OH)2 hybrid nanomaterials

We report a class of core–shell nanomaterials that can be used as efficient surface-enhancement Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. The core consists of silver nanowires, prepared through a chemical reduction process, that are used to capture 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA), a model analyte. The shell was prepared through a modified Stöber method and consists of patchy or full silica coats. The formation of silica coats was monitored via transmission electron microscopy, UV–visible spectroscopy, and phase-analysis light-scattering for measuring effective surface charge. Surprisingly, the patchy silica-coated silver nanowires are better SERS substrate than silver nanowires; nanomolar concentration of 4-MBA can be detected. In addition, “nano-matryoshka” configurations were used to quantitate/explore the effect of the electromagnetic field at the tips of the nanowire (“hot spots”) in the Raman scattering experiment.     

基于单个花状银纳米颗粒的表面增强拉曼散射效应研究

在室温下,以硝酸银为银源,抗坏血酸为还原剂,通过调节表面活性剂聚乙烯吡络烷酮的浓度,实现对花状银纳米颗粒的可控制备。利用扫描电子显微镜、原子力显微镜、X射线衍射和X射线能谱等手段检测并分析了材料的形貌结构和成分组成。实验结果表明,当聚乙烯吡络烷酮的浓度为0.1 mol/L时,所制备花状银纳米颗粒的表面结构达到最精细的状态且颗粒的尺寸达到微米量级,适合对单颗粒进行定位与光学性质研究。以结构最优化的花状银纳米颗粒为表面增强拉曼散射基底材料,以羟基苯甲酸为探针,对单个和少数颗粒的表面增强拉曼散射效应进行了研究,并借助暗场散射光谱分析了基底的表面增强拉曼散射机理。结果显示,该花状银纳米颗粒因其独特的表面结构为拉曼信号增强提供了大量“热点”。良好的拉曼性能以及较低的制备成本表明,该新型表面增强拉曼散射基底具有很大的应用前景。     

A Straightforward Immunoassay Applicable to a Wide Range of Antibodies Based on Surface Enhanced Fluorescence

A straightforward immunoassay based on surface enhanced fluorescence (SEF) has been demonstrated using a fluorescent immune substrate and antibody functionalized-silver nanoparticles. Unlike the conventional SEF-based immunoassay, which usually uses the dye-labeled antibodies and the metallic nanostructured-substrates, the presented immune system does not need the antibodies to be labeled with dye molecules. Thus, this immunoassay can be easily applied to the detection of a wide range of target antigens, which is of great importance for its practical application. The experimental results show that this immunoassay has a good specificity as well as the capacity of quantitative detection. Basically, the surface density of the immuno-adsorbed silver nanoparticles increases with the increased amount of target antigens, resulting in a fluorescence enhancement up to around 7 fold. The dose-responsive performance of the immunoassay has been investigated and the limit of detection (LOD) is 1 ng/mL. Due to its simple preparation method and the wide range of detectable antigens, this presented immunoassay is expected to be helpful for extending the SEF-based application.     

IR spectra of halothane–acetone complex in liquefied noble gases (Kr and Xe)

The interaction of semiconductor quantum dots and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with bacteriorhodopsin (BR), a membrane protein contained in the purple membrane (PM) of Halobacterium salinarum, is studied. It is shown that both types of nanoparticles are adsorbed efficiently on the surface of the purple membranes, modulating the parameters of the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle. Electrostatic interactions are found to be the main cause of the effect of nanoparticles on the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle. These results explain our earlier data on the “fixation” of the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle for protein molecules trapped after incubation of the purple membranes with silver nanoparticles near the location of the “hot spots” of the effect of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). It is demonstrated that exposure of silver nanoparticles with bacteriorhodopsin in SERS-active regions lowers the amount of bacteriorhodopsin molecules involved in phototransformations.     

Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering on Self-assembled Nano Silver Film Prepared by Electrolysis Method

用一种廉价的电解方法制备了纳米银膜,并详细研究了在这种银膜上的表面增强拉曼散射效果．结晶紫为本实验的检测性分子．通过实验发现,这种银膜用便携式拉曼光谱仪测试并计算出的表面增强拉曼散射的增强因子为603,并对结晶紫的最小检出限为0.1 nmol/L     

Plasmon-enhanced fluorescence near metallic nanostructures: biochemical applications

Amplification of fluorescence is a nanoscale phenomenon which is particularly pronounced in close proximity to metal nanostructures. Due to its sharp distance dependence, it is ideally suited to monitor biorecognition reactions. Using this effect we have been able to demonstrate ultrasensitive bioassays. Two types of metal nanostructures have been employed, nanometric silver islands deposited over an ultrathin metal mirror and silver fractal structures. For the first type, metal mirrors (aluminum, gold, or silver protected with a thin silica layer) were coated with SIFs and an immunoassay (model assay for rabbit IgG or myoglobin immunoassay) was performed on this surface using fluorescently labeled antibodies. Our results show that SIFs alone (on a glass surface not coated with metal) enhance the immunoassay signal approximately 3 to 10-fold. Using a metal mirror instead of glass as support for SIFs leads to up to 50-fold signal enhancement. The second type of metal nanostructures, silver fractals, were produced by electrochemical reduction of silver nitrate deposited on sapphire covered with a thin conductive film of indium tin oxide. These structures were used as a substrate for a model rabbit IgG bioassay. The fluorescence resulting from the binding of antibody labeled with Rhodamine was highly nonuniform with distinctive hot spots. These highly fluorescent regions were correlated with areas of higher Ag thickness and coverage. Such high values of fluorescence amplification in both types of nanostructures have been interpreted by using time-resolved fluorescence data and by considering the radiative properties of plasmons in the environments which promote plasmon coupling. PACS 87.64.Ni; 81.07.-b; 87.14.-g     

Optical properties of Ag@cicada wing substrate deposited by Ag nanoparticles

In this paper, Ag nanoparticles were deposited on Ag@cicada wing array by using the cicada wings as templates to study its optical properties, including surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), polarization and surface enhanced fluorescence (SEF). The nanogaps between adjacent conical protrusion can be well dominated by adjusting the sputtering time and the optimal substrate AgNPs@Ag@cicada wing arrays have a noteworthy enhancement of SERS signal. Characterization of the prepared optimal substrate certified that it possesses the excellent SERS performances. Basically consistent SERS signal strength at the different polarization angles of the optimal substrate indicates that its polarization-independence. The SEF spectra shows that the optimal substrate has a slightly lower and unstable enhancement at this initial stage of repeated examination due to the weak adhesion between the Ag@cicada wing arrays and Ag nanoparticles. The outstanding optical properties indicate that it has enormous potential in the label-free detection and biological analytes determination.     

FDTD simulation study of size/gap and substrate-dependent SERS activity study of Au@SiO_2 nanoparticles

We use Au@SiO_2 nanoparticles(NPs) to systematically and comprehensively study the relationship between nanostructure and activity for surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Calculation simulation using the finite different time domain method verifies the experiment results and further reveals that the particle size and the distance between the NPs play vital roles in the surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS). Furthermore, in order to better simulate the real experiment, a Au@SiO_2 nanosphere dimer is placed on the silicon substrate and Au substrate, separately. The simulation results show that the large EM field coupling is due to the "hot spots" transferred from the NP–NP gaps to NP–surface of metal gaps,meanwhile, more "hot spots" occur. We also find that the signal intensity strongly depends on the position of the probe molecule. This work provides a better understanding of EM field enhancement.     

微波法制备银胶体及其在表面增强拉曼散射中的应用

本文提出了一种利用微波加热的原理,合成一种新型的银胶体溶液。该银胶具有高效的表面增强拉曼活性。以这种新型银胶体粒子作为活性衬底,测得的强荧光物质R6G的表面增强拉曼光谱,体现出荧光背景低,信噪比高的特点。通过两种不同方法制备的银胶体粒子的表面增强拉曼散射效果的比较,发现这种新型银胶纳米粒子通过聚集,形成更多的具有很强的提高样品表面增强拉曼散射强度作用的“热点”,从实验的角度验证了表面增强拉曼中的“热点”理论。     

树枝状银微米材料的制备及其表面增强拉曼光谱研究

为使表面增量拉曼散射(SERS)衬底的制备方法简单快速且提高的基底增强效果,采用置换反应的制备方法,用锌片和硝酸银反应制备出微米银结构SERS活性基底,其具有稳定性好,易保存,制备方法简单,过程快速等特点。用扫描电子显微镜观察得银微米材料表面形貌呈均匀对称的树枝状结构。实验中控制置换反应的时间分别为40,50,60 s时,得到的树枝状银微米材料的长度分别为3,5,10 μm左右,分支分别为700 nm,2 μm,3 μm,发现随着置换反应的时间的增长,微米银树枝及分枝的长度越长,且树枝分枝上逐渐长出纳米级“树叶”结构, 使得微米级银树枝表面具有纳米结构。并且将微米银材料置于硅片上作为SERS衬底,并以罗丹明6G为探针分子,用激发波长为1 064 nm的傅里叶变换拉曼光谱仪检测,研究其在表面增强拉曼光谱中的应用,结果表明树枝状银微米材料有很好的SERS特性,其中置换反应时间为40 s时制备的微米银树枝的增强效果最佳,其增强因子可达到103左右,并且采用用表面活性剂PVP处理硅片的方法后,保持其他条件不变,微米银衬底的SERS增强效果得到进一步加强,增强因子达到104左右。此外,将树枝状银微米材料用水可封存数月,且实验结果的重复性较好。     

Ag纳米粒子修饰聚合物纳米尖锥阵列的SERS衬底制备

表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)以其无损、超灵敏、快速检测分析等优点而备受关注,在化学和生物传感等应用领域有着极大的潜力。研制灵敏度高、重复性强、稳定性好的SERS基底,对于实现其在痕量分析、生物诊断中的实际应用具有重要意义。具有微/纳米结构的聚合物具有优异的机械性能、光学性能、耐化学性等优点。通过模板压印法,利用多孔阳极氧化铝(AAO)在聚合物聚碳酸酯(PC)表面制备一种高度有序的纳米PC尖锥阵列结构,然后通过蒸发镀膜在PC尖锥阵列上沉积一层银膜,制备了大面积Ag纳米颗粒修饰的高度有序聚合物纳米尖锥阵列。高曲率纳米针状结构顶端的银颗粒及颗粒之间狭小的纳米间隙能产生大量的SERS"热点"。这种方法得到了均匀,可重复,大面积高增强的SERS活性基底,并进一步研究了不同沉积厚度银膜的SERS特性。用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对其进行了表征,以结晶紫作为探针分子对这种结构进行研究。结果表明:拉曼信号强度随银厚度的增加显示为先增强后减弱的趋势。基底对结晶紫的拉曼增强因子达到5.4×10~6,基底主要拉曼峰强度的RSD为10%,说明该基底具有很好的检测灵敏性和重复性。此外,基底在存放40 d后,在相同条件下仍然保持着高SERS性能,表现出很好的稳定性。整个制备过程简单易行,重复性好,制作成本非常低廉,而且能够规模化制备,可方便地作为活性基底应用于SERS研究,必将具有广阔的研究和应用前景。     

Silver nanoparticle coverage dependence of surface-enhanced Raman scattering

We report surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from 4-mercaptopyridine adsorbed on nanotextured silver surfaces as the coverage of silver is varied. The degree of surface enhancement is strongly dependent on silver coverage and correlated to the extinction of the surface at the Raman excitation wavelength, that extinction being determined by multiparticle surface plasmon resonances. The coverage dependence of the Raman intensity is consistent with signals being dominated by molecules at junctions inside nanoparticle aggregates where electromagnetic energy is localized into “hot spots” by interactions of the incident and scattered fields with the surface plasmons. The Raman intensity drops precipitously near the conductivity percolation threshold because these hot spots are destroyed when conducting paths allow plasmons to propagate. Our approach to substrate preparation provides clean surfaces with average enhancements ≥10⁷, an order of magnitude larger than typical for SERS. PACS 78.67.-n; 78.68.+m; 33.20.Fb     

A study on the spectral characteristics of surface enhanced Raman scattering based on far‐field extinction and near‐field electromagnetic field intensity of 2D nanostructures

A new solid‐state electrochemical patterning technique was applied to fabrication of high‐resolution silver bowtie antennas and hexagonal arrays. These silver nanofeatures were used to investigate the relation among surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement factor (EF), extinction, local electromagnetic (EM) field maxima of the features. It is found that spectral extinction property or the plasmonic resonance of a given SERS substrate alone is not sufficient for determining optimal EF; the number of points of high local EM field, or ‘hot spots’, and the distribution of those high‐field spots, too, play a role. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

银纳米粒子修饰三维碳纳米管阵列SERS实验

为了使表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)基底的三维聚焦体积内包含更多的“热点”,能吸附更多探针分子和金属纳米颗粒,以便获得更强的拉曼光谱信号,提出了银纳米粒子修饰垂直排列的碳纳米管阵列三维复合结构作为SERS基底,并对其进行了实验研究。利用化学气相沉积(CVD)方法制备了垂直排列的碳纳米管阵列;采用磁控溅射镀膜方法先在碳纳米管阵列上形成一层银膜,再通过设置不同的高温退火温度,使不同粒径的银纳米粒子沉积在垂直有序排列碳纳米管阵列的表面和外壁。SEM结果表明：在有序碳纳米管阵列的表面和外壁都均匀地负载了大量银纳米粒子,并且银纳米颗粒的粒径、形貌及颗粒间的间距随退火温度的不同而不同。采用罗丹明6G(R6G)分子作为探针分子,拉曼实验结果表明：R6G浓度越高,拉曼强度越强,但是R6G浓度的增加与拉曼强度增强并不呈线性变化;退火温度为450 ℃,银纳米颗粒平均粒径在100～120 nm左右,退火温度为400 ℃,银纳米颗粒平均粒径在70 nm左右,退火温度为450 ℃的拉曼信号强度优于退火温度400和350 ℃。     

基于整体柱的超灵敏表面增强拉曼检测

本文提出了一种全新的基于整体柱材料的SERS检测方法。通过将探针分子和银溶胶混合后滴加在整体柱上, 我们可以得到浓度低至10-18 mol/L的罗丹明6G(R6G)及10-16 mol/L的对巯基苯胺(PATP)的SERS信号。利用原子力显微镜(AFM)和扫描电镜(SEM)对银溶胶及整体柱材料进行了表征。通过实验结果可以初步推测, 整体柱材料的表面形态和孔结构可以促进银溶胶产生“热点”。     

自组装银纳米粒子及其SERS增强效应

采用柠檬酸三钠还原硝酸银方法制备出银纳米粒子, 并通过在玻璃表面修饰3-氨基丙基-三乙氧基硅烷( APTES)对银纳米粒子进行自组装。利用紫外-可见(UV-Vis)吸收光谱和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)测试手段对样品进行分析和表征。由测试结果可知银纳米粒子的尺寸比较均匀, 组装致密度较高, 基本以亚单层的形式分布于基底表面。进一步研究了以结晶紫(CV)为探针分子的自组装基底的表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS), 计算发现该基底的拉曼增强因子数量级达106。结果表明: 银纳米粒子自组装基底具有良好的SERS增强效应, 为痕量CV的检测提供了有效的方法。     

Electrodeposition of silver nanoparticle arrays on ITO coated glass and their application as reproducible surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate

In this paper, a double-potentiostatic method is used for preparation of highly efficient and uniform surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate. The method takes advantage of the quick nucleation and slow growth process, yielding silver nanoparticle arrays (NAs) containing large amount of hot spots, which bring about these dense silver NAs for reproducible SERS application.