An investigation of the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from a new substrate of silver-modified silver electrode by magnetron sputtering

'Pure' silver nanoparticles on silver electrode were prepared by magnetron sputtering. The silver-modified silver electrode has good stability and the silver nanoparticles on silver electrode have homogeneous size distribution. Compared with the silver colloid modified silver electrode, there were no any extraneous component ions on the electrode, for the modified silver nanoparticles are prepared by magnetron sputtering. Synchronously, we obtained much higher quality SERS spectra of adenine molecules on the silver electrode modified by magnetron sputtering (SEMMS), and the study of the adsorption behavior of adenine on the silver-modified silver electrode by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) indicated that the silver-modified silver electrode was highly efficient substrates for SERS investigation. From the rich information on the SEMMS obtained from high-quality potential-dependent SERS, we may deduce the adsorption behavior of adenine and the probable SERS mechanism in the process. The probable reasons are given.     

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of single-walled carbon nanotubes on silver-coated and gold-coated filter paper

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on metal-coated filter paper are reported for the first time. Experimental results show that the metal-coated filter paper is very effective and active. The SERS spectrum not only shows that all Raman bands of SWCNTs in normal Raman scattering have been generally enhanced, but also shows many new bands, which characterize the structure of SWCNTs and the interaction between SWCNTs and silver/gold nanoparticles, arising from symmetry lowering and selection rule relaxing of SWCNTs induced by the silver/gold surface. In our case, it is difficult to separate the contributions of the electromagnetic and chemical mechanisms to the great enhancement of the Raman signal. The analysis shows that the SERS spectra of SWCNTs on the metal-coated filter paper provide convenience for probing the sample molecules with fine structures related to defects of SWCNTs, the diameter of SWCNTs, and the SERS mechanism of SWCNTs deposited on metal-coated filter paper. Moreover, this can be used as a probe technique for monitoring the synthesis quality of SWCNTs with significant higher sensitivity than other methods, which has promise of being a new technique for monitoring synthesis quality of SWCNTs.     

金与银电极表面甘氨酸分子吸附作用的SERS光谱研究

本文利用表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS)技术研究了甘氨酸在金与银基底表面的吸附作用特征。研究表明甘氨酸分子以COO-的不对称形式吸附于金电极表面,且NH2也是其可能的吸附位点;而在银电极表面,则主要是通过COO-的对称形式而吸附。在此基础上,进一步研究了电极电位与溶液酸碱性对吸附于粗糙化银电极表面甘氨酸分子吸附作用的影响。研究结果表明,甘氨酸分子中去质子化羧基的吸附作用受电位影响较小,而电位对-NH3+吸附作用的影响程度较大。另一方面,溶液pH值对银电极表面的甘氨酸分子吸附行为的影响也较为显著。随着溶液酸性减小羧基倾向于相对于电极表面平行吸附。这是由于随着溶液碱性增大氨基质子化程度的减小,有利于氨基在银电极表面吸附。这将改变分子的吸附构型使其更接近于电极表面。这些变化主要出现在pH值大于10的条件下。     

The investigation of a series of n-hydroxybenzoic acids (n=p, m, o) on a new surface enhanced Raman scattering active substrate

Ag nanoparticles, organized on indium tin oxide (ITO) surface, can act as a new surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrate as well as a dry electrode. Compared with the traditional SERS-active substrate, its notable advantage is that the microcosmic changes of the film can be reflected by the SERS spectrum during the investigation of the film's electrical and other macroscopic characteristics. To illuminate the above-mentioned property of this new substrate, a series of n-hydroxybenzoic acids (n-HBA; n=p, m and o) was tested as probe molecules by SERS technique. These SERS spectra indicate that the significant changes of frequencies as well as intensities, respectively, arise from the changes of the adsorption behavior along with the proportional variation of molecules and silver nanoparticles. Excellent SERS signals prove that the silver nanoparticles-coated ITO is a highly SERS-active substrate and can efficiently reflect the microcosmic property of the film, which suggest it has promising potential of being a new technique for further application in the field of thin-film research.     

Investigation of p-hydroxybenzoic acid from a new surface-enhanced Raman scattering system

In this paper, we developed a new kind of substrate, silver-coated indium tin oxide (ITO), to investigate the character of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA). Homogeneous Ag-coated ITO substrate was obtained by decomposing AgNO(3) on the surface of ITO. A SERS spectrum of very good quality of "silver nanoparticles/PHBA/silver-coated ITO" was reported by adding PHBA aqueous solution and silver colloid onto the surface of silver-coated ITO repeatedly. PHBA molecules absorbed onto the surface of the silver nanoparticles through ionized carboxyl, and the PHBA molecules tended to tilt on the surface in this system. The rich information obtained from the silver nanoparticles/PHBA/silver-coated ITO system indicates that this is a highly SERS-active system. Not only was the number of the vibrational modes increased, but also were the frequencies of Raman bands shifted. The two SERS mechanisms, the "electromagnetic" and "chemical" mechanism, were mainly responsible for the experimental results. Furthermore, the silver nanoparticles modified on the silver-coated ITO surface play an important role in magnifying the surface local electric field near the silver film surface through resonant surface plasmon excitation.     

The adsorption behavior of p-hydroxybenzoic acid on a silver-coated filter paper by surface enhanced Raman scattering

On dried filter paper coated with silver nanoparticles, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) were studied, and high-quality SERS spectra were obtained, indicating that the silver-coated filter paper is a highly SERS-active substrate. The analysis showed that the adsorption behavior of PHBA molecules on silver nanoparticles coated on filter paper was different from that in silver aqueous colloids. On the filter paper, it was found that the SERS spectra of PHBA changed with the proportion of PHBA molecules and silver nanoparticles, indicating that the adsorption behavior of PHBA molecules changed with the proportion. The probable reasons are given.     

Adsorption Behaviors of 4-Mercaptobenzoic Acid on Silver and Gold Films

The adsorption behaviors of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid on silver and gold nanoparticles were studied by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and density functional theory. The silver and gold films by electrodeposition have the same excellent characteristics as SERS-active substrates. At the same, the SERS spectra indicate that 4-mercaptobenzoic acid molecules are adsorbed on the surfaces of gold nanoparticles through the S atom, and that the carboxyl group is far away from surface of gold nanoparticles, and that there is a certain angle between the plane of benzene ring and gold film. However, 4-mercaptobenzoic acid molecules are adsorbed on the surfaces of silver nanoparticles through the carboxyl group, and the S atom is far away from surface of silver nanoparticles, and there is also a certain angle between the plane of benzene ring and the surface of silver nanoparticles. Here it is demonstrated the calculated Raman frequencies are in good agreement with experimental values, and the calculated Raman frequencies are also helpful to infer the adsorption behaviors of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid molecules.     

银/金纳米线阵列表面增强拉曼基底的制备及对孔雀石绿的高灵敏度检测

利用种子介导的软模板生长方法制备了金纳米线(Au NWs)阵列, 通过调节生长温度控制Au NWs阵列的形貌, 最后在经硼氢化钠(NaBH₄)清洗过的Au NWs阵列上化学沉积银纳米颗粒(Ag NPs), 制得银/金纳米线(Ag/Au NWs)阵列作为表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)基底. 选用罗丹明6G(R6G)作为拉曼探针分子测定了Ag/Au NWs阵列的SERS性能. 结果表明, Ag/Au NWs阵列作为SERS基底具有高灵敏度、 优异的信号均匀性和良好的稳定性. 使用Ag/Au NWs阵列对孔雀石绿(MG)检测的检出限可低至1×10^-8 mol/L, 线性范围为 1×10^-8~1×10^-4 mol/L. NaBH₄可以在不影响SERS性能的情况下去除Ag/Au NWs阵列上吸附的分子, 使得 SERS基底可以重复使用. 使用Ag/Au NWs阵列对湖水中的MG进行检测, 得到了可靠的回收率, 证明Ag/Au NWs 阵列在检测环境水体中的孔雀石绿上具有应用潜力.     

Preparation of gold colloid monolayer by immunological identification

The design and initial characterization of the self-assembled gold colloid monolayer by a sandwich structure via the immunological identification are reported. The 13 nm gold colloid nanoparticles and the silicon or quartz substrates have been modified with the mouse polyclonal antibody against hepatitis B virus surface antigen (PAb) and the mouse monoclonal antibody against hepatitis B virus surface antigen (MAb), respectively. They can be linked by a special reaction with their corresponding hepatitis B virus surface antigen (Antigen) as a sandwich structure. Thus, the density of gold nanoparticles self-assembled on the substrate can be readily controlled by the amount of the antigen added. The resulting substrates have been characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy when the gold nanoparticles were modified with SERS-active probe molecules of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA) after silver enhancement. These data show that the gold nanoparticles are separately fixed onto the substrate and form a uniform monolayer, which possess a set of features that make them very attractive for both basic and applied uses, including roughness, high stability, and biocompatibility.     

Designer electrode interfaces simultaneously comprising three different metal nanoparticle (Au, Ag, Pd)/carbon microsphere/carbon nanotube composites: progress towards combinatorial electrochemistry

In this report gold, silver and palladium metal nanoparticles are separately supported on glassy carbon microspheres (GCM) using bulk electroless deposition techniques to produce three different materials labelled as GCM-Au, GCM-Ag and GCM-Pd respectively. These three materials are then combined together into a composite film on a glassy carbon (GC) electrode surface using multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The MWCNTs serve to not only mechanically support this composite film as a "binder" but they also help to "wire up" each modified GCM to the underlying substrate. The intelligently designed structure of this electrode interface allows this single modified electrode to simultaneously behave as if it were a macrodisc electrode constructed of gold, silver or palladium, whilst using only a fraction of the equivalent amount of these precious metals. Furthermore this unique structure allows the possibility of combinatorial electrochemistry to be realised using a relatively facile electrode construction which avoids the problems of alloy formation, co-deposition and the formation of bimetallic species. For instance a mixture of several different analytes, which can each only be detected on a different specific substrate, can simultaneously be determined using one electrode in a single voltammetric experiment! Alternatively a substrate could undergo electrocatalytic reactions on one substrate, whilst the products, and hence the progress of this reaction, can be studied at a different substrate simultaneously at the same electrode surface. Proof-of-concept examples are presented herein and the designer electrode interface is shown to produce analytical responses to model target analytes such as hydrazine, bromide and thallium(I) ions that are comparable, if not better, than those obtained at metal macrodisc electrodes and even at other state-of-the-art nanoparticle modified electrodes.     

Surface enhanced Raman with anodized aluminum oxide films

Aluminum is not a platform of choice for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) experiments despite its large negative permittivity value (larger than gold or silver at optical wavelengths). It is also widely believed that an oxide layer on top of any platform substantially impedes SERS signals. Yet, anodized aluminum oxide may be perforated in an organized fashion and we have used it to examine SERS of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) at micron length and fullerene (C60) at the nanoscale. The signal-to-noise ratio of the corresponding Raman signals exhibited a large signal enhancement for SWCNTs but not for C60. We attributed the SERS to the formation of standing surface charge waves in this subwavelength environment.     

Sonoelectrochemical synthesis of spike-like gold-silver alloy nanoparticles from bulk substrates and the application on surface-enhanced Raman scattering

The synthesis of non-spherical spike-like gold-silver alloy nanoparticles on platinum substrates was first developed by sonoelectrochemical methods in this study. First, a silver substrate was roughened by a triangular-wave oxidation-reduction cycle (ORC) in an aqueous solution containing 0.1 M HCl. Silver-containing complexes were found in the solution after the ORC treatment. Then a gold substrate was subsequently roughened by the similar ORC treatment in the same silver complexes-containing solution. After this procedure, Au- and Ag-containing complexes were left in the solution. Subsequently, the Au working electrode was immediately replaced by a Pt electrode. A cathodic overpotential was applied under controlled sonication and slight stirring to synthesize Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles on the Pt substrate. Encouragingly, the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of Rhodamine 6G on the Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles-deposited Pt substrate exhibits a higher intensity by eight-fold of magnitude and a better resolution, as compared to that obtained on the Au nanoparticles-deposited Pt substrate.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticle Modified 3-Aminophenol Resin Microspheres with Application for Determination of Carcinoembryonic Antigens by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Uniform phenolic resin microspheres were prepared by the polycondensation of 3-aminophenol and formaldehyde. On the surface of the 3-aminophenol resin microspheres, silver nanoparticles were synthesized in situ and immobilized by simple heating. The composite was employed as a substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The SERS enhancement factor was evaluated using 4-mercaptobenzoic acid and Nile blue A as signal molecules. A highly sensitive SERS immunoassay that combined labeled antibody conjugated silver nanoparticle modified 3-aminophenol resin microspheres and coating antibody conjugated magnetic nanoparticles was fabricated to determine carcinoembryonic antigen. A linear relationship was obtained between the Raman intensity and the concentration of carcinoembryonic antigen. The limit of detection was 1.2 picograms per milliliter at a signal-to-noise ratio of three. This is believed to be the first report of a SERS immunoassay using silver nanoparticle modified 3-aminophenol resin microspheres as substrates.     

结合化学组装和电沉积的SERS基底的制备方法

采用一种结合化学组装和电化学沉积制备均匀而且具有强SERS基底的方法, 研究了沉积电位对组装在ITO表面的金纳米粒子形貌的影响, 发现在-0.04 V下沉积5 min可以得到形貌均匀的纳米粒子. 利用现场电化学紫外-可见吸收光谱来监控电化学沉积过程, 发现沉积一定时间后, 紫外-可见吸收谱在600~700 nm区间出现新峰, 表明粒子间发生了有效的电磁场耦合. 对制备的基底进行拉曼成像, 结果表明, 基底的均匀性很好, 最强点与最弱点的d信号差小于20%, 符合商品化基底的要求.     

Studies of surface-enhanced Raman scattering of C60 Langmuir-Blodgett film on a new substrate

A new substrate of "gold nano-particle/silver nano-rod/ITO surface" was obtained by electrodeposition. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrum of high quality of C60 and stearic acid (SA) mixed Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film shifted onto the new substrate was reported for the first time according to our knowledge. The results show that the substrate of "gold nano-particle/silver nano-rod/ITO surface" is very effective and active for C60 LB film. Furthermore, the C60 molecules are oriented on pentagons of C60 on the substrate. It is difficult to separate the electromagnetic and chemical mechanisms to the great enhancement of the Raman signal. On the one hand, the gold nano-particles grown on silver nano-rod surface perform an important action for magnifying the surface local electric field through the resonant excitation of surface plasma. And the needle-like rod may further magnify the local electric field because of lightning rod effect. On the other hand, charge transfer factor may not be neglected.     

Immunoassay using probe-labelling immunogold nanoparticles with silver staining enhancement via surface-enhanced Raman scattering

This paper reports a novel immunoassay based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and immunogold labelling with silver staining enhancement. Immunoreactions between immunogold colloids modified by a Raman-active probe molecule (e.g., 4-mercaptobenzoic acid) and antigens, which were captured by antibody-assembled chips such as silicon or quartz, were detected via SERS signals of Raman-active probe molecule. All the self-assembled steps were subjected to the measurements of ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectra to monitor the formation of a sandwich structure onto a substrate. The immunoassay was performed by a sandwich structure consisting of three layers. The first layer was composed of immobilized antibody molecules of mouse polyclonal antibody against Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (PAb) on a silicon or quartz substrate. The second layer was the complementary Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (Antigen) molecules captured by PAb on the substrate. The third layer was composed of the probe-labelling immunogold nanoparticles, which were modified by mouse monoclonal antibody against Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (MAb) and 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA) as the Raman-active probe on the surface of gold colloids. After silver staining enhancement, the antigen is identified by a SERS spectrum of MBA. A working curve of the intensity of a SERS signal at 1585 cm(-1) due to the [small nu](8a) aromatic ring vibration of MBA versus the concentration of analyte (Antigen) was obtained and the non-optimized detection limit for the Hepatitis B virus surface antigen was found to be as low as 0.5 [micro sign]g mL(-1).     

Electrodeposition of dendritic gold/silver nanaoparticles on disposable screen‐printed carbon electrode and its application of 4‐mercaptopyridine in in situ electrochemical surface‐enhanced Raman scattering

Column electrodes pretreated through oxidation–reduction cycles were traditionally used in electrochemical surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). In this study, a disposable screen‐printed carbon electrode was introduced into in situ electrochemical SERS through the electrodeposition of dendritic gold/silver nanoparticles (Au/AgNPs) onto the surface of the carbon working electrode to induce the SERS enhancement effect on the electrode. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that dendritic Au/AgNPs nanostructures could be fabricated under appropriate electrodeposition conditions and could present a minimum SERS factor of 4.25 × 10⁵. Furthermore, the absorbed behavior of 4‐mercaptopyridine was investigated under different potentials. The adsorption configuration was inferred to transform from ‘vertical’ to ‘lying‐flat’. The proposed new electrode combined with a portable Raman spectrometer could be useful in the identifying products or intermediates during electrochemical synthesis or electrochemical catalysis in in situ electrochemical SERS. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

银电极表面异亮氨酸单分子膜结构和表面性质的表面增强拉曼光谱研究

利用表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS)技术研究了在粗糙化银电极表面吸附的异亮氨酸自组装单层膜结构及其表面性质随溶液酸碱性和电极电位改变的特征.研究结果表明溶液pH值的变化并没有显著改变异亮氨酸分子在银电极表面以去质子化羧基吸附为主的特征.借助于高氯酸根离子这一SERS光谱探针,对异亮氨酸单分子膜的表面酸碱性质进行了表征和分析.而就电位改变对该单分子膜结构的影响而言,在所研究的电位范围内,单分子膜中的异亮氨酸分子是通过去质子化羧基与氨基两个位点而吸附的,且吸附作用随电位负移而呈现有规律的变化.     

Characteristics of polypyrrole electrodeposited onto roughened substrates composed of gold–silver bimetallic nanoparticles

In this work, the characteristics of polypyrrole (PPy) films electrodeposited onto an electrochemically roughened gold substrate with bimetallic silver and gold nanoparticles were first investigated. First, a silver substrate was roughened by a triangular‐wave oxidation–reduction cycle (ORC) in an aqueous solution containing 0.1 M HCl. Subsequently, a gold substrate was roughened by a similar ORC treatment in this used solution. The results revealed that the surface of the roughened gold substrate demonstrated two different kinds of deposition domains because of the modification of silver nanoparticles. Encouragingly, some novel characteristics of PPy deposited onto this substrate were observed, in comparison with those on the roughened gold substrate without the modification of silver nanoparticles. They included a denser and more compact surface morphology, higher oxidation degree, increased conductivity, and improved surface‐enhanced Raman scattering. Furthermore, the nucleation and growth mechanism for PPy electropolymerization on this silver‐modified roughened gold substrate was distinguishable from that on the unmodified one. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2724–2731, 2006     

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering: realization of localized surface plasmon resonance using unique substrates and methods

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement and the reproducibility of the SERS signal strongly reflect the quality and nature of the SERS substrates because of diverse localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) excitations excited at interstitials or sharp edges. LSPR excitations are the most important ingredients for achieving huge enhancements in the SERS process. In this report, we introduce several gold and silver nanoparticle-based SERS-active substrates developed solely by us and use these substrates to investigate the influence of LSPR excitations on SERS. SERS-active gold substrates were fabricated by immobilizing colloidal gold nanoparticles on glass slides without using any surfactants or electrolytes, whereas most of the SERS-active substrates that use colloidal gold/silver nanoparticles are not free of surfactant. Isolated aggregates, chain-like elongated aggregates and two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures were found to consist mostly of monolayers rather than agglomerations. With reference to correlated LSPR and SERS, combined experiments were carried out on a single platform at the same spatial position. The isolated aggregates mostly show a broadened and shifted SPR peak, whereas a weak blue-shifted peak is observed near 430 nm in addition to broadened peaks centered at 635 and 720 nm in the red spectral region in the chain-like elongated aggregates. In the case of 2D nanostructures, several SPR peaks are observed in diverse frequency regions. The characteristics of LSPR and SERS for the same gold nanoaggregates lead to a good correlation between SPR and SERS images. The elongated gold nanostructures show a higher enhancement of the Raman signal than the the isolated and 2D samples. In the case of SERS-active silver substrates for protein detection, a new approach has been adopted, in contrast to the conventional fabrication method. Colloidal silver nanoparticles are immobilized on the protein functionalized glass slides, and further SERS measurements are carried out based on LSPR excitations. A new strategy for the detection of biomolecules, particularly glutathione, under aqueous conditions is proposed. Finally, supramolecular J-aggregates of ionic dyes incorporated with silver colloidal aggregates are characterized by SERS measurements and correlated to finite-difference time-domain analysis with reference to LSPR excitations. Figure SPR and SERS images for isolated, elongated and two-dimensional gold nanostructures