Gold nanoparticle-paper as a three-dimensional surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate

This work investigates the effect of gold nanoparticle (AuNP) addition to paper substrate and examines the ability of these composite materials to amplify the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signal of a dye adsorbed. Paper has a three-dimensional (3D), porous, and heterogeneous morphology. The manner in which paper adsorbs the nanoparticles is crucial to its SERS properties, particularly with regards to aggregation. In this work, we sought to maintain the same degree of aggregation, while changing the concentration of nanoparticles deposited on paper. We achieved this by dipping paper into AuNP solutions of different, known concentration and found that the initial packing density of AuNPs in solutions was retained on paper with the same degree of aggregation. The surface coverage of AuNPs on paper was found to scale linearly to their concentration profile in solutions. The SERS performances of the AuNP-treated papers were evaluated with 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) as the Raman molecule, and their SERS intensities increased linearly with the AuNPs' concentration. Compared to AuNP-treated silicon, the Raman enhancement factor (EF) from paper was relatively higher due to a more uniform and greater degree of adsorption of AuNPs. The effect of the spatial distribution of AuNPs in their substrates on SERS activity was also investigated. In this experiment, the number of AuNPs was kept constant (a 1 μL droplet of AuNPs was deposited on all substrates), and the distribution profile of AuNPs was controlled by the nature of the substrate: paper, silicon, and hydrophobized paper. The AuNP droplet on paper showed the most reproducible and sensitive SERS signal. This highlighted the role of the z-distribution (through film) of AuNPs within the bulk of the paper, producing a 3D multilayer structure to allow inter- and intralayer plasmon coupling, and hence amplifying the SERS signal. The SERS performance of nanoparticle-functionalized paper can thus be optimized by controlling the 3D distribution of the metallic nanoparticles, and such control is critical if these systems are to be implemented as a low-cost and highly sensitive bioassay platform.     

水/正己烷界面上超声波介导组装金纳米粒子薄膜用作SERS基底

本文以高能量的超声波作用于溶胶/疏水溶剂两相体系, 使溶胶相中的纳米颗粒先被加速吸附到乳液油滴的小表面. 随着乳液油滴向上转移, 在界面处破乳, 纳米颗粒就被释放到水/油界面上来, 形成自组装纳米薄膜. 尽管这种组装机制尚不完全清楚(如超声波是否确实如预期那样可以提高纳米粒子的动能), 但这种方法不需要预先对纳米粒子表面疏水修饰, 也不需向体系中添加表面活性有机小分子或电解质等诱导剂, 可快速有效制备表面“洁净”的纳米粒子薄膜, 并可用作高活性SERS基底.     

Characterization of the surface enhanced raman scattering (SERS) of bacteria

The surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of a number of species and strains of bacteria obtained on novel gold nanoparticle (approximately 80 nm) covered SiO(2) substrates excited at 785 nm is reported. Raman cross-section enhancements of >10(4) per bacterium are found for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria on these SERS active substrates. The SERS spectra of bacteria are spectrally less congested and exhibit greater species differentiation than their corresponding non-SERS (bulk) Raman spectra at this excitation wavelength. Fluorescence observed in the bulk Raman emission of Bacillus species is not apparent in the corresponding SERS spectra. Despite the field enhancement effects arising from the nanostructured metal surface, this fluorescence component appears "quenched" due to an energy transfer process which does not diminish the Raman emission. The surface enhancement effect allows the observation of Raman spectra of single bacterial cells excited at low incident powers and short data acquisition times. SERS spectra of B. anthracis Sterne illustrate this single cell level capability. Comparison with previous SERS studies reveals how the SERS vibrational signatures are strongly dependent on the morphology and nature of the SERS active substrates. The potential of SERS for detection and identification of bacterial pathogens with species and strain specificity on these gold particle covered glassy substrates is demonstrated by these results.     

Ultrasensitive SERS Detection of Lysozyme by a Target‐Triggering Multiple Cycle Amplification Strategy Based on a Gold Substrate

An ultrasensitive surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) method has been designed to selectively and sensitively detect lysozyme. The gold chip as the detection substrate, the aptamer‐based target‐triggering cascade multiple cycle amplification, and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) bio‐barcode Raman probe enhancement on the gold substrate are employed to enhance the SERS signals. The cascade amplification process consists of the nicking enzyme signaling amplification (NESA), the strand displacement amplification (SDA), and the circular‐hairpin‐assisted exponential amplification reaction (HA‐EXPAR). With the involvement of an aptamer‐based probe, two amplification reaction templates, and a Raman probe, the whole circle amplification process is triggered by the target recognition of lysozyme. The products of the upstream cycle (NESA) could act as the “DNA trigger” of the downstream cycle (SDA and circular HA‐EXPAR) to generate further signal amplification, resulting in the immobility of abundant AuNPs Raman probes on the gold substrate. “Hot spots” are produced between the Raman probe and the gold film, leading to significant SERS enhancement. This detection method exhibits excellent specificity and sensitivity towards lysozyme with a detection limit of 1.0×10^?15 M . Moreover, the practical determination of lysozyme in human serum demonstrates the feasibility of this SERS approach in the analysis of a variety of biological specimens.     

金纳米粒子组装体系粒子密度与SERS强度的关系

利用纳米粒子组装技术制备出金基底／巯基苯胺自组装膜偶联层／金纳米粒子的“三明治”结构。实验结果显示,该结构对偶联层分子的喇曼光谱显示出很好的增强效应,增强因子可达１０＾５;在表面粒子密度（粒子覆盖度）较低时,表面增强喇曼散射（ＳＥＲＳ）强度与表面粒子密度近似呈线性关系;随着表面粒子密度的增加,这种线性关系出现负偏差并在表面粒子密度较高区域出现一个平台;在６０￣１１０ｎｍ范围内大粒径金粒子对喇曼光谱     

Effect of layer structures of gold nanoparticle films on surface enhanced Raman scattering

Using a method of collecting nanoparticles at a water/hexane interface in a close-packed monolayer film and transferring such films onto a solid substrate, three-dimensional multilayer films of nanoparticles were formed. The packed nanoparticles were gold nanospheres (NS) with a 26 nm diameter or gold nanorods (NR) with a 31 nm diameter and 74 nm length. We investigated variations in the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) intensities from such nanoparticle films as the layer compositions were changed. The films stacked with NR layers generated much higher SERS intensity than those of NS layers. The SERS intensities from both kinds of films increased as the number of layers were increased. However, when the NR layer and NS layer were stacked alternately, SERS intensity varied in a zigzag fashion. It was found that the structure of top layer plays a distinguishable role in generating strong SERS enhancement while the lower layers contribute to SERS with less dependency on structures. Interlayer coupling as well as intralayer coupling was considered in order to explain the observations.     

Block Copolymer Supported Gold Nanoparticles Assemblies with Exposed Gold Surface

Polymer-involved nanoparticles or nanoparticle assemblies are now facing a crossroad, where the exposure of nanoparticle and multiple nanoparticles cannot be obtained at the same time. Therefore, a new series of nanoparticle clusters is synthesized, where multiple gold nanoparticles assemble with amphiphilic block copolymers supporting inside. The exposure of gold nanoparticles of the structure is confirmed and increases the reduction rate of 4-nitrophenol by 60%. The assemblies can also be used as surface enhanced Raman scattering(SERS) probes with an enhancement factor(EF) as high as 3×10³.     

溶胶-凝胶法原位复合PVA/HA水凝胶的结构表征与性能研究

采用溶胶-凝胶原位复合的方法制备了聚乙烯醇/羟基磷灰石生物活性复合水凝胶,探讨了HA含量对复合水凝胶结构性能的影响,用X射线衍射分析、红外光谱分析、DSC、扫描电镜等方法对HA在PVA水凝胶体系中的晶态结构及分散状态进行了表征,并与物理共混复合法进行了比较.研究发现,采用溶胶-凝胶法原位复合可在PVA水凝胶中形成具有生物活性的HA结晶结构,且分散良好,分布均匀.HA粉体作为异相成核剂,促进了PVA水凝胶基体的结晶,提高了复合水凝胶的力学性能.     

Polyelectrolyte Multilayer‐Mediated Growth of Gold Nanoparticle Films with Tunable Loading Density and Nanoparticle Shape

A facile method for preparing gold nanoparticle (AuNP) films with a high loading density based on the seed‐mediated growth of AuNPs on a polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) is reported. Use of PEMs as a base layer for gold seed adsorption confers controllability on the loading density of the AuNP film and size of the resulting AuNPs. In addition, the shape of the final AuNPs could be varied by adapting various species of polyelectrolytes. The optical response of the AuNP films is stable, because of the relatively uniform distribution of the AuNPs over a large area. The AuNP film has been used as a substrate for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and it shows stable and reproducible enhancement in the range from 10⁵ to 10⁷ depending on the fabrication condition.

     

基于自组装纳米金单层膜的全内反射SERS研究

采用静电自组装技术分别在玻璃基片和30 nm厚的金膜表面固定一层金纳米粒子(GNP)制得两种表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)基底,然后通过棱镜全内反射(TIR)激励和背向收集模式分别测试了两种基底上吸附的染料单分子层SERS光谱.实验结果表明两种SERS基底的拉曼增强效果均高度依赖于入射激光的偏振状态,对于玻璃/纳米金SERS基底,s光全内反射导致的拉曼增强因子是线偏振光(p)光的2-5倍,说明该基底上的"热点"位于纳米金单层膜内相邻粒子之间;对于玻璃/金膜/纳米金SERS基底,只有采用p光在特定的全内反射角下才能激发SERS信号,而且测得的SERS信号比玻璃/纳米金基底增强了近30倍.究其原因是p光在金膜表面共振激发的传播表面等离子体与纳米金局域表面等离子体耦合,进而导致显著场增强.实验结果指出在背向收集模式下,由p光激发的SERS信号是非偏振光,包含强度几乎相等的s和p成分.利用玻璃/金膜/纳米金基底还实现了拉曼光定向发射和收集,测得的SERS信号是p光.     

金纳米粒子膜的电化学合成及SERS活性分析

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)-active gold nanoparticles(AuNPs) films were prepared with a one-step electrochemical method. The orthogonal design was used to investigate the experimental conditions influencing the morphologies and the SERS activity of the AuNPs. A condition was found to obtain the optimal SERS activity. The SEM study reveals that the AuNPs films were composed of closely packed AuNPs. The Finite Difference Time Domain(FDTD) simulation result indicates that the coupling between particles plays an important role in the enhancement SERS of AuNPs.     

基于自组装纳米金单层膜的全内反射SERS研究

采用静电自组装技术分别在玻璃基片和30 nm厚的金膜表面固定一层金纳米粒子（GNP）制得两种表面增强拉曼散射（SERS）基底,然后通过棱镜全内反射（TIR）激励和背向收集模式分别测试了两种基底上吸附的染料单分子层SERS光谱. 实验结果表明两种SERS基底的拉曼增强效果均高度依赖于入射激光的偏振状态,对于玻璃/纳米金SERS基底,s 光全内反射导致的拉曼增强因子是线偏振光（p）光的2-5 倍,说明该基底上的“热点”位于纳米金单层膜内相邻粒子之间;对于玻璃/金膜/纳米金SERS基底,只有采用p光在特定的全内反射角下才能激发SERS信号,而且测得的SERS信号比玻璃/纳米金基底增强了近30 倍. 究其原因是p 光在金膜表面共振激发的传播表面等离子体与纳米金局域表面等离子体耦合,进而导致显著场增强. 实验结果指出在背向收集模式下,由p 光激发的SERS信号是非偏振光,包含强度几乎相等的s 和p 成分. 利用玻璃/金膜/纳米金基底还实现了拉曼光定向发射和收集,测得的SERS信号是p光.     

Single-molecule and single-nanoparticle SERS: from fundamental mechanisms to biomedical applications

This tutorial review discusses a new class of colloidal metal nanoparticles that is able to enhance the efficiencies of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) by as much as 10(14)-10(15) fold. This enormous enhancement allows spectroscopic detection and identification of single molecules located on the nanoparticle surface or at the junction of two particles under ambient conditions. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the enhancement mechanisms, including definitive evidence for the single-molecule origin of fluctuating SERS signals. For applications, SERS nanoparticle tags have been developed based on the use of embedded reporter molecules and a silica or polymer encapsulation layer. The SERS nanoparticle tags are capable of providing detailed spectroscopic information and are much brighter than semiconductor quantum dots in the near-infrared spectral window. These properties have raised new opportunities for multiplexed molecular diagnosis and in vivo Raman spectroscopy and imaging.     

Characterization of Labeled Gold Nanoparticles for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Noble metal nanoparticles (NP) such as gold (AuNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) can produce ultrasensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals owing to their plasmonic properties. AuNPs have been widely investigated for their biocompatibility and potential to be used in clinical diagnostics and therapeutics or combined for theranostics. In this work, labeled AuNPs in suspension were characterized in terms of size dependency of their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and SERS activity. The study was conducted using a set of four Raman labels or reporters, i.e., small molecules with large scattering cross-section and a thiol moiety for chemisorption on the AuNP, namely 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA), 2-naphthalenethiol (2-NT), 4-acetamidothiophenol (4-AATP), and biphenyl-4-thiol (BPT), to investigate their viability for SERS tagging of spherical AuNPs of different size in the range 5 nm to 100 nm. The results showed that, when using 785 nm laser excitation, the SERS signal increases with the increasing size of AuNP up to 60 or 80 nm. The signal is highest for BPT labelled 80 nm AuNPs followed by 4-AATP labeled 60 nm AuNPs, making BPT and 4-AATP the preferred candidates for Raman labelling of spherical gold within the range of 5 nm to 100 nm in diameter.     

金纳米粒子修饰的氨基硅胶整体柱的制备及超灵敏表面增强拉曼散射检测

采用溶胶-凝胶法结合超分子模板技术, 以四乙氧基硅烷(TEOS)和3-氨丙基三乙氧基硅烷(APTES)作为反应前体, 以十六烷基三甲基溴化铵(CTMAB)为超分子模板, 简单快速地制备了一种新型氨基硅胶整体柱, 通过氨基将金纳米粒子组装在整体柱材料孔表面并用于表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)光谱分析. 以对巯基苯胺(PATP)和结晶紫(CV)为拉曼探针, 考察了金纳米粒子修饰的氨基硅胶整体柱用作SERS活性基底的性能. 结果表明, 该整体柱基底具有良好的SERS增强效应, 可检测到的PATP和CV的最低浓度分别为10^-9和10^-11 mol/L. 与金溶胶SERS基底相比, 本文制备的整体柱基底的检测灵敏度显著提高, 并具有良好的信号均一性, 是一种具有现场痕量检测应用潜力的SERS活性基底.     

SE(R)RS devices fabricated by a laser electrodispersion method

A novel laser electrodispersion (LE) technique was employed to deposit gold nanoparticles onto Si and SiO(x) surfaces. The LE technique combines laser ablation with cascade fission of liquid metal micro-drops, which results in the formation of nanoparticles upon rapid cooling. The shape and the size distribution of the Au nanoparticles prepared by LE depend on the nature of the support. Gold nanoparticles were also deposited in the channels of microreactors fabricated by wet etching of Si and used as SE(R)RS sensors. The influence of the nanoparticle surface density as well as of the nature of the substrate on the Raman response was studied. At an appropriate surface density of the deposited nanoparticles a significant enhancement of Raman signal was observed showing the possibility to create efficient SERS substrates. Application of microfluidic devices in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in continuous-flow mode with sensor regeneration is described.     

Gold nanoparticle multilayer films based on surfactant films as a template: preparation, characterization, and application

Highly ordered gold nanoparticle multilayer films were achieved conveniently using didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) films as a template. The template was produced by casting DDAB chloroform solution onto the surface of a (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane-modified indium tin oxide substrate and then evaporating the organic solvent. Gold nanoparticle multilayer films were prepared by soaking the template in 2.6 nm colloidal gold solution for 120 min. The well-ordered superlattice structure of the DDAB template and the gold nanoparticle multilayer films was identified by x-ray diffraction. The characterizations of the gold nanoparticle multilayer films by UV-vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and cyclic voltammerty were described in detail. The application of the as-prepared gold nanoparticle multilayer films in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was investigated by using Rhodamine 6G as a probe molecule. It was found that the colloidal gold nanoparticle multilayer films exhibit remarkable enhancement ability and can be used as SERS substrates.     

Porous GaN as a template to produce surface-enhanced Raman scattering-active surfaces

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates have been prepared by depositing Au or Ag on porous GaN (PGaN). The PGaN used as the template for the metal deposition in these studies was generated by a Pt-assisted electroless etching technique. PGaN was chosen as a potential SERS template due to its nanostructured surface and high surface area, two characteristics that are important for SERS substrates. Metal films were deposited either by solution-based electroless deposition or by thermal vacuum evaporation. SERS spectra were recorded at lambda = 752.5 nm for Au films and at lambda = 514.5 nm for Ag films deposited on PGaN. The SERS signal strength across the metal coated PGaN substrates was uniform and was not plagued by "hot" or "cold" spots on the surface, a common problem with other SERS surfaces. The Ag film deposited by electroless deposition had the highest overall SERS response, with an enhancement factor (EF) relative to normal Raman spectroscopy of 10(8). A portion of the increase in EF relative to typical SERS-active substrates can be assigned to the large surface area characteristic of the PGaN-Ag structures, but some of the enhancement is intrinsic and is likely related to the specific morphology of the metal-nanopore composite structure.     

Surface enhanced Raman scattering from layered assemblies of close-packed gold nanoparticles

A synthetic method of ordering hydrophilic gold nanoparticles into a close-packed two-dimensional array at a hexane-water interface and subsequent transferring of such structure onto a solid substrate is described. By repeating the transfer process, multilayered gold nanoparticle films are formed without need of linker molecules. Their surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) efficiencies are compared as a function of the number of layers. It is shown that both the number of layers and the particle size contribute to SERS phenomenon. Judging from the noticeable dependence of SERS efficiency on the nanometer scale architecture, the close-packed nanoparticle formation at an immiscible interface presents a facile route to the preparation of highly active and relatively clean SERS substrates by controlling both the particle size and the film thickness. Among the investigated samples, the gold nanoparticle film assembled with quintuple layers of 30 nm diameter particles showed the maximum SERS efficiency.     

Controlled Self-Assembly of Metallacycle-Bridged Gold Nanoparticles for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

In this work, well-defined two-dimensional metallacycles have been successfully employed for the well-controlled self-assembly of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) into discrete clusters such as dimers, trimers, tetramers, pentamers and even hexamers at the water–oil interface for the first time. Furthermore, the modular construction of metallacycle molecules allows precise control of spacing between the gold nanoparticles. Interestingly, it was found that interparticle spacing below 5 nm created by molecular metallacycles in the resultant discrete gold nanoparticle clusters led to a strong plasmon coupling, thus inducing great field enhancement inside the gap between the NPs. More importantly, different discrete clusters with precise interparticle spacing provide a well-defined system for studying the hot-spot phenomenon in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS); this revealed that the SERS effects were closely related to the interparticle spacing.