Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of single- and few-layer graphene by the deposition of gold nanoparticles

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of graphene on a SiO(2)(300 nm)/Si substrate was investigated by depositing Au nanoparticles using thermal evaporation. This provided a maximum enhancement of 120 times for single-layer graphene at 633 nm excitation. SERS spectra and scan images of single-layer and few-layer graphene were acquired. Single-layer graphene provides much larger SERS enhancement compared to few-layer graphene, while in single-layer graphene the enhancement of the G band was larger than that of the 2D band. Furthermore, the D bands were identified in the SERS spectra; these bands were not observed in a normal Raman spectrum without Au deposition. Appearance of the D band is ascribed to the considerable SERS enhancement and not to an Au deposition-induced defect. Lastly, SERS enhancement of graphene on a transparent glass substrate was compared with that on the SiO(2)(300 nm)/Si substrate to exclude enhancement by multiple reflections between the Si substrate and deposited Au nanoparticles. The contribution of multiple reflections to total enhancement on the SiO(2)(300 nm)/Si substrate was 1.6 times out of average SERS enhancement factor, 71 times.     

Mechanism of response enhancement in evaporative light scattering detection with the addition of triethylamine and formic acid

Triethylamine with an equimolar amount of formic acid added to the mobile phase provides an enhancement of the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) response. After characterization of the influence of various parameters on the ELSD response, a sequential strategy was defined to elucidate this response enhancement. The response enhancement was more marked at low mobile phase flow rate, and was highly dependent on solutes and solvents. The influence of drift tube temperature on response enhancement with various solutes demonstrated that triethylamine and formic acid mainly act as mass amplifiers by the inclusion of triethylamine-formic acid clusters inside the droplets.     

Enhancement at the junction of silver nanorods

The enhancement of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) at the junction of linearly joined silver nanorods (31 nm in diameter) deposited in the pores of anodic aluminum oxide templates was studied systematically by excitation with a 632.8 nm laser line. The single and joined silver nanorod arrays showed a similar extinction spectrum when their length was the same. Maximum enhancement was observed from the junction system of two nanorods of the same size with a total length of 62 nm. This length also corresponded to the optimum length of single nanorods for SERS by excitation with a 632.8 nm laser line. The enhancement at the junction was approximately 40 times higher than that of the 31 nm single nanorod, while it was 4 times higher than that of the 62 nm single nanorod. The enhancement factor at the junction after oxide removal was approximately 3.9 x 10 (9).     

Electrochemiluminescence Enhancement of CdTe Quantum Dots by the Addition of Silver(I) Ions

Water-soluble CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized by using a 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) capped method. Stable electrochemiluminescence (ECL) was obtained when the CdTe QDs were immobilized onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by Layer-By-Layer (LBL) assembly of CdTe QDs and polydiallyldimethylam-monium chloride (PDDA) by using 2-(dibutylamino)-ethanol (DBAE) as a co-reactant. The ECL enhancement of CdTe QDs by the addition of silver(I) ions was also investigated. The maximum enhancement factor about 4 was obtained on a GCE in the presence and absence of the co-reactant. The enhancement was observed in phosphate-citric acid and phosphate buffer solutions (PBS), but not in borate buffer solution (BBS). This was newly formed Ag nanoparticles or silver(I) complex with large surface area and high catalytic activity in the phosphate-citric acid and phosphate buffer solutions, thus resulting in ECL enhancement.     

Effect of target composition on the emission enhancement observed in Double-Pulse Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

The effect of the matrix composition on the emission enhancement observed in Double-Pulse (DP) Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) was studied for several pure metal targets (Al, Au, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Pt, Si and W). The measurements were performed in air by using a dual-pulse Nd:YAG ns laser emitting 60mJ pulses at 1064nm wavelength. The measurement of the emission enhancement for neutral and ionic lines of all the samples showed a wide range of results. Very low enhancement was observed in Pb, Ni and Mn while the highest values of enhancement were obtained in Cu, Al and Au. The space-averaged thermodynamic parameters of the induced plasmas in DP and in SP LIBS were calculated and the enhancement of ablated atomized mass in DP case was spectroscopically estimated in all the targets. A correlation seems to exist between the ablated atomized mass enhancement and the plasma temperature increase in the DP configuration. An attempt was made to correlate the increase of these two quantities with the melting point and heat, boiling point and heat, reflectivity and ionization energy of the metal. No evident correlation was found. At the opposite, a correlation was observed between the ablated atomized mass enhancement and the thermal diffusivity of the metal.     

Fluorimetric estimation of DNA content using sensitized lanthanide fluorescence

Lanthanide fluorescence enhancement on complexation with calf thymus DNA was studied in aqueous solution. The DNA sensitized and enhanced fluorescence of terbium and europium by nearly two orders of magnitude. By applying this ligand sensitized lanthanide fluorescence enhancement, DNA could be estimated at 10 ppb level. Further, effect of addition of TOPO in Triton X-100 micellar medium to Tb-DNA complex in solution was also studied. On addition of TOPO, no synergistic terbium fluorescence enhancement was observed.     

Upconversion emission enhancement of Gd3+ ions induced by surface plasmon field in Au@NaYF4 nanostructures codoped with Gd(3+)-Yb(3+)-Tm(3+) ions

Au nanoparticles (NPs) attached β-NaYF(4) nanocrystals codoped with Gd(3+)-Yb(3+)-Tm(3+) were synthesized by a facial solution method. The UV-vis-near-infrared absorption spectrum shows typical surface plasmon resonance band of Au NPs in addition to the characteristic absorption peaks of Yb(3+) ion. X-ray diffraction and selected area electron diffraction results indicate the existence of Au NPs. The transmission electron microscopic image reveals the formation of Au@NaYF(4) nanostructures. Enhanced ultraviolet (UV) upconversion luminescence (UCL) was observed in the nanostructures under the excitation of 980-nm infrared laser. The largest enhancement factor was obtained as 76 for the (6)I(J)→(8)S(7/2) emission of Gd(3+) ions, which was much larger than those emission enhancement factors of Tm(3+). It is for the first time to our knowledge that the emission enhancement of Gd(3+) ions was obtained. Local field enhancement induced by Au NPs was found to be responsible for the UCL enhancement, which is the further experimental evidence of local field enhancement theory. Magnetic measurements of the Au@NaYF(4) nanostructure indicated it would have potential application in magnetic resonance imaging.     

Electron-enhanced vibrational spectroscopy: a theoretical approach.

Enhancement of the Raman scattering and IR absorption activities due to the electron-attachment was investigated for water systems by DFT calculations. DFT calculation of a 6-ring water cluster system that included the diffusive nature of electrons well reproduced the Raman enhancement effects and Raman shifts of the OH stretching modes observed in experiments. Based on the same model and calculations, enhancement of the IR absorption activity was also studied and was found to also be improved. Furthermore, the same calculation revealed that the enhancement can be also expected not only in the OH stretching but also in the lower wavenumber region. The enhancement factors for the various vibrational modes of the OH groups range from 10(2) - 10(5) thanks to the electron addition. Based on the coincidence between the theoretical model and the experimental results for the Raman signals and theoretical prediction for IR absorption, new enhancement techniques based on an electron-attachment in both Raman scattering and IR absorption, denoted as "electron-enhanced vibrational spectroscopy (EEVS)", is proposed, where molecular polarizability itself is modulated by the strong electrostatic field induced by neighboring electrons.     

Chemical enhancement by nanomaterials under X-ray irradiation

We report here a new phenomenon of dynamic enhancement of chemical reactions by nanomaterials under hard X-ray irradiation. The nanomaterials were gold and platinum nanoparticles, and the chemical reaction employed was the hydroxylation of coumarin carboxylic acid. The reaction yield was enhanced 2000 times over that predicted on the basis of the absorption of X-rays only by the nanoparticles, and the enhancement was found for the first time to depend on the X-ray dose rate. The maximum turnover frequency was measured at 1 × 10(-4) s(-1) Gy(-1). We call this process chemical enhancement, which is defined as the increased yield of a chemical reaction due to the chemical properties of the added materials. The chemical enhancement described here is believed to be ubiquitous and may significantly alter the outcome of chemical reactions under X-ray irradiation with the assistance of nanomaterials.     

Gold nanoparticles assembling on smooth silver spheres for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

A simple and cost-effective chemical method was introduced to assemble gold (Au) nanoparticles on smooth silver (Ag) spheres for realizing surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement by the replacement reaction between chloroauric acid and Ag spheres. In addition, the Ag-Au core-shell spheres were fabricated when a certain amount of chloroauric acid was used in the reaction solution. We found that the Ag particles decorated with small Au nanoparticles demonstrated the strongest SERS enhancement, while Ag-Au core-shell spheres showed the weakest enhancement.     

基质效应对有机磷农药测定的影响及其解决方法

该文以液液萃取-气相色谱法探讨了基质对乐果、甲基对硫磷、马拉硫磷和对硫磷4种有机磷测定的影响以及解决方法.研究表明,气相色谱法测定有机磷农药的过程中基质效应显著存在,其基质增强比例为1.01 ～3.46.基质效应由基质种类及含量、有机磷农药种类及浓度等因素决定,同时与萃取溶剂、测定条件(如衬管、进样口温度等)有关.不同萃取溶剂对有机磷农药的萃取效率不同,但均存在基质增强效应;当进样口温度为260 ℃时,可最大程度降低基质在衬管中的残留,且不造成有机磷农药的分解;衬管则应首选带玻璃棉的.实际样品/标准样品的交替进样方式可以降低基质效应强度,但难以达到回收率要求,而校正因子校正法及分析保护剂法则是降低或消除基质效应的可行办法.     

蛋白质对溴鼠灵的荧光增敏及分析应用

实验发现, 牛血清白蛋白可以大大增强杀鼠剂溴鼠灵的荧光. 利用荧光猝灭法考察了溴鼠灵和牛血清白蛋白的相互作用. 结果表明溴鼠灵对牛血清白蛋白的内源荧光有较强的猝灭作用, 两者形成了新的复合物, 属于静态荧光猝灭. 跟据荧光增敏现象, 建立了水溶液中测定溴鼠灵的荧光方法. 在优化实验条件下, 线性范围为5.0×10-8～4.0×10-7 mol/L和4.0×10-7～1.5×10-5 mol/L, 检出限为5.9×10-9 mol/L. 该方法用于渠水中微量溴鼠灵的测定, 回收率为94.1%～101.3%.     

Studies towards understanding the mechanism of organic reagent enhancement in flame and plasma atomic absorption spectrometry

A series of organic reagents have been tested in atomic absorption measurement for signal enhancement of metal elements. Organic reagents like tetrabutylammonium bromide are demonstrated to enhance the absorption sensitivity to some specific elements such as calcium and chromium. A group of amines were found to have significant enhancement for chromium and calcium measurements. The function of organic reagents in flame and plasma atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) was investigated in this work with emphases on mechanism of signal enhancement and interference suppression. An alternative mechanism of organic reagent enhancement in flame and plasma AAS has been suggested based on the experimental results obtained in this work. The reduction environments in flame and plasma produced by the organic reagents are considered as major reason for the signal enhancement.     

Electrocatalysis by ad-atoms: Part IX. A fast parallel path for formaldehyde oxidation on a platinum electrode by oxygen adsorbing ad-atoms

The effect of various ad-atoms on formaldehyde oxidation was examined on a Pt electrode. Ad-atom species are found to be classified into two groups according to their way of affecting the electrode reaction: one consists of Cu, Ag, Tl, Hg, Pb, As, Bi, Te and Se, the other Ge, Sn and Sb. The enhancement effect of the former depends on the number of Pt sites occupied by an ad-atom of each species (S_M), which suggests to us that geometrical control of Pt site arrangement plays an important role in the enhancement. The latter group of ad-atoms adsorb oxygen atoms, and these oxygen atoms are considered to play an important role in this enhancement. The enhancement ratio by the latter group of ad-atoms is much greater than that by the former group. The enhancement by the latter group of ad-atoms is via a new rapid parallel path, which has not been found on a Pt electrode for formaldehyde oxidation.     

Enhanced Raman Scattering by Polystyrene Microspheres and Application for Detecting Molecules Adsorbed on Au Single Crystal Surface

By assembling polystyrene microspheres on a sample surface, the surface Raman signal could be enhanced. The dependence of the enhancement effect on the size of microspheres was systematically investigated and it was found that microspheres with a diameter of 3.00 μm showed the highest enhancement of ca 5 folds. By utilizing the enhancement effect of the microspheres, the surface Raman intensity of malachite green isothiocyanate (MGITC) adsorbed on Au(111) surface could be enhanced by 20 folds, indicating that this method could effectively improve the detection sensitivity of surface Raman spectroscopy for the adsorbed species on single crystal surface. The later signal increment corresponds to the Raman enhancement effect of nearly 3 orders of magnitude. The enhancement effect is mainly owing to the formation of nanojets when a laser is focused on the microspheres of appropriate diameter. The formation of nanojets will lead to the highly localized electromagnetic field, which will then significantly enhance the Raman process in the nanojets. The main reason for obtaining different enhancements on two types of samples was analyzed.     

Synergistic fluorescence enhancement of Tb with aromatic monocarboxylic acids and TOPO-Triton X-100: role of Triton X-100 in synergism

Fluorescence enhancement of Tb3+ has been studied, using substituted benzoic acids as ligands. These ligands enhance the fluorescence of Tb3+ by about three orders of magnitude. The enhancement is observed due to ligand sensitized fluorescence. The fluorescence of Tb3+ in these complexes is synergistically enhanced by the addition of trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) in Triton X-100. The synergism displayed by TOPO was observed only when Triton X-100 micellar medium was used. TOPO dissolved in SDS/DTAB micellar medium did not result in synergistic fluorescence enhancement of Tb3+. These observations are discussed in detail and the synergism displayed by TOPO is rationalized on the basis of the structure of the surfactants.     

Direct visual evidence for chemical mechanism of SERRS of pyrazine adsorbed on Ag nanoparticle via charge transfer

In this paper, the chemical enhancement of surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) of pyrazine adsorbed on Ag nanoparticles through charge transfer was experimentally and theoretically investigated. Based on the calculations by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT), we theoretically analyzed the absorption spectra and SERS spectrum of the S-complex of pyrazine–Ag₂₀. The charge transfer in the process of resonant electronic transitions between adsorbed molecule and metal cluster can be visualized by the method of charge difference density. It is a direct evidence for the chemical enhancement mechanism of SERRS of pyrazine molecule adsorbed on Ag nanoparticle via charge transfer between molecule and metal. Additionally, the intracluster charge redistribution was also considered as an evidence for the electromagnetic enhancement. By comparing the experimental and theoretical results, it was demonstrated that the SERRS of the pyrazine molecule absorbed on silver clusters in different incident wavelength regions is dominated by different enhancement mechanisms via the chemical and electromagnetic enhancements.     

2[(N-乙基)-1-吩噻嗪基]腙的合成及聚集荧光增强性能

以氮-氮单键连接2个吩噻嗪环构成共轭结构, 合成了2[(N-乙基)-1-吩噻嗪基]腙, 并对其进行了结构表征. 该化合物在四氢呋喃溶剂中呈分散态时无荧光; 在四氢呋喃/水混合溶剂中呈现聚集荧光增强. 荧光增强是由于聚集态中分子内单键旋转受分子堆积效应的阻碍, 氮-氮单键连接的2个吩噻嗪环趋于平面化以及J-聚集体形成的协同作用使非辐射跃迁减少所致. 同时, 利用这种聚集荧光增强性质考察了该化合物对血红蛋白的探针识别性能.     

Homogeneous silver-coated nanoparticle substrates for enhanced fluorescence detection

A simple method has been developed for the deposition of uniform silver-coated nanoparticles on glass substrates, with a homogeneous distribution shown by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). UV-visible spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) have been used to characterize both the optical density and elemental content of the deposited nanoparticles. The fluorescence enhancement was investigated using a monolayer of FITC-conjugated human serum albumin (FITC-HSA) and tested using laser scanning microscopy at 488 nm excitation wavelength. The enhancement factor was calculated from individual spectra recorded with a Fluorolog-Tau-3 spectrofluorometer. We identified the nanoparticle growth regime which led to fluorescence enhancement. Such enhancement is detectable when Au core-Ag shell nanoparticles increased their size to 47 nm, in agreement with theoretical estimates. The origin of this enhancement for appropriate size nanoparticles is attributed to the effect of an increased excitation rate from the local field enhanced by the interaction of incident light with the nanoparticles and/or higher quantum yield from an increase of the intrinsic decay rate of the fluorophore. We thus demonstrated that the Au core-Ag shell nanostructures on glass surfaces are promising substrates for fluorescence enhancement with outstanding macroscopic homogeneity. This important feature will pave the way for the application of our substrates in biotechnology and life sciences such as imaging and sensing of biomolecules in proteomics.