Analysis of excitation laser intensity dependence of blinking SERRS of thiacarbocyanine adsorbed on single silver nanoaggregates by using a power law with an exponential function

In blinking SERRS, probability distributions of the dark events against their duration were mostly reproduced by a power-law with the same exponential function under various excitation laser intensities, although they were given by a power-law with the different exponential functions at other excitation wavelengths.     

Li⁺ selective podand-type fluoroionophore based on a diphenyl sulfoxide derivative bearing two pyrene groups

New podand-type fluoroionophores having two pyrene moieties: 2,2′-bis(1-pyrenylacetyloxy)diphenyl sulfide (3), 2,2′-bis(1-pyrenylacetyloxy)diphenyl sulfoxide (4), and 2,2′-bis(1-pyrenylacetyloxy)diphenyl sulfone (5), have been synthesized by connecting two 1-pyrenecarbonylmethyl groups with the two hydroxy groups of 2,2′-dihydroxydiphenyl sulfide, sulfoxide, and sulfone, respectively. Their complexation behavior toward alkali metal ions was examined by fluorescence spectroscopy. Among these fluoroionophores, compound 4, having a sulfinyl group, showed high selectivity toward Li?.     

Confocal microscopic evaluation of mixing performance for three-dimensional microfluidic mixer

We developed a confocal microscopic method for a quantitative evaluation of the mixing performance of a three-dimensional microfluidic mixer. We fabricated a microfluidic baker's transformation (MBT) mixer as a three-dimensional passive-type mixer for the efficient mixing of solutions. Although the MBT mixer is one type of ideal mixers, it is hard to evaluate its mixing performance, since the MBT mixer is based on several cycles of complicated three-dimensional microchannel structures. We applied the method developed here to evaluate the mixing of water and a fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC; diffusion coefficient, 4.9 × 10(-10) m(2) s(-1)) solution by the MBT mixer. This method enables us to capture vertical section images for the fluid distributions of FITC and water at different three-dimensional microchannel structures of the MBT device. These images are in good agreement with those of mixing images based on numerical simulations. The mixing ratio could be calculated by the fluorescence intensity at each pixel of the vertical section image; complete mixing is recognized by a mixing ratio of more than 90%. The mixing ratios are measured at different cycles of the MBT mixer by changing the flow rate; the mixing performance is evaluated by comparisons with the mixing ratio of the straight microchannel without the MBT mixer.     

Inhibition assay of yeast cell walls by plasmon resonance Rayleigh scattering and surface-enhanced Raman scattering imaging

We report on plasmon resonance Rayleigh scattering (PRRS) and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging for inhibition assay of yeast cell walls. This assay reveals that the proteins having alkali sensitive linkage bound to β1,3 glucan frameworks in cell walls are involved in SERS activity. The result is further confirmed by comparison of genetically modified cells and wild type cells. Finally, we find that PRRS and SERS spots do not appear on cell walls when daughter cells are enough smaller than parent ones, but appear when size of daughter cells are comparable to parent cells. This finding indicates the relationship between expression of the proteins that generate SERS spots and cell division. These results demonstrate that PRRS and SERS imaging can be a convenient and sensitive method for analysis of cell walls.     

Micrometer-sized gold nanoplates: starch-mediated photochemical reduction synthesis and possibility of application to tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS)

In this report, we propose a novel starch-mediated photochemical reduction method for synthesizing micrometer-sized gold nanoplates and the possibility of using them as a tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) substrate. To reduce gold ions, a starch chain firstly forms a complex with AuCl(4)(-), and the gold ion is subsequently reduced by receiving an electron from a chloride ion and generating a chloride radical when the [AuCl(4)(-)-starch] complex is irradiated by sunlight. Due to the slow reaction rate and the capability of starch as a template, gold structure can thermodynamically grow along the (111) facet which is the lowest energy facet of the gold face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal. This method can provide various shapes of gold plates such as triangle, truncated triangle, hexagon, polygon, etc. The plate size can be controlled in the range from a few micrometers to more than one hundred micrometers by increasing the acidity of solution while the plate thickness is less than 100 nm. Potential application of the gold plates as TERS substrates is demonstrated by collecting Raman signals while approaching a silver-coated tungsten tip to the surface of the micrometer-sized gold nanoplate covered by crystal violet (CV) molecules. The results show that less than one hundred CV molecules can be detected in our study.     

An ionic surfactant-mediated Langmuir-Blodgett method to construct gold nanoparticle films for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

A gold nanoparticle film for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was successfully constructed by an ionic surfactant-mediated Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) method. The gold film was formed by adding ethanol to a gold colloid/hexane mixture in the presence of dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB). Consequently, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) assembled at the water/hexane interface due to the decrease in surface charge density of AuNPs. Since DTAB binds the gold surface by a coulombic force, rather than a chemical bonding, it is easily replaced by target molecules for SERS purposes. The SERS enhancement factor of the 80 nm gold nanoparticle film was approximately 1.2 × 10(6) using crystal violet (CV) as a Raman dye. The SERS signal from the proposed DTAB-mediated film was approximately 10 times higher than that from the octanethiol-modified gold film, while the reproducibility and stability of this film compared to an octanethiol-modified film were similar. This method can also be applied to other metal nanostructures to fabricate metal films for use as a sensitive SERS substrate with a higher enhancement factor.     

Preparation and formation mechanism of a n-butylammonium/MnO2 layered hybrid via a one-pot synthesis under moderate conditions

The preparation of organic/inorganic layered hybrids has relied on multistep processing. Thus, shortening the synthetic procedure is important for possible future applications, but only a few studies report one-pot syntheses. In this work, we established a simple one-pot solution process to synthesize layered alkyl ammonium/MnO(2) hybrids, by stirring MnCl(2) and alkyl amine/H(2)O(2) aqueous solutions at 40 °C; the reaction concept is a chemical oxidation of Mn(II) ions in the presence of alkyl amine in aqueous solution. Furthermore, the formation mechanism of the layered n-butylammonium/MnO(2) hybrid was examined by following the structural and optical changes during the reaction, revealing that the one-pot reaction includes 3 steps; formation of β-MnOOH, topotactic oxidation of β-Mn(III)OOH to form the protonated layered manganese oxide H(x)Mn(III, IV)O(2)·yH(2)O, and ion-exchange of interlayer H(+) (or H(3)O(+)) with n-butylammonium to form layered n-butylammonium/MnO(2).     

Incorporation of cationic electron donor of Ni-pyridyltetrathiafulvalene with anionic electron acceptor of polyoxometalate

A new salt-[Ni(II)(DMSO)(5)(TTFPy)](2)[α-SiW(12)O(40)] (1)-based on polyoxometalates was prepared by coordinating a cationic electron donor of pyridyltetrathiafulvalene (TTFPy) with Ni(II). Although the TTFPy molecule did not form a salt with the anionic α-[SiW(VI)(12)O(40)](4-) because of the weak charge-transfer (CT) interaction, the coordination of Ni with the pyridyl moiety permitted salt formation driven by electrostatic interaction, giving a single crystal of 1. Crystallographic analysis, UV-vis and IR spectroscopy and electrochemical characterization revealed that the fully oxidized α-[SiW(VI)(12)O(40)](4-) was crystallized with the neutral TTFPy moiety from the acetonitrile solution because of the low electron-withdrawing ability of α-[SiW(VI)(12)O(40)](4-), forming a brown-orange crystal. The crystal colour quickly turned to black by immersing in methanol, due to CT from TTF moiety to α-[SiW(VI)(12)O(40)](4-), which was caused by the solvent effect. Increase in the solvent acceptor number from 18.9 for acetonitrile to 41.3 for methanol resulted in the enhancement of the electron withdrawing ability of α-[SiW(VI)(12)O(40)](4-) by 0.317 V in methanol.     

Experimental parameters for the SERS of nitrate ion for label‐free semi‐quantitative detection of proteins and mechanism for proteins to form SERS hot sites: a SERS study

We have explored the effects of the experimental parameters on the surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) intensities of NO₃⁻ and proteins observed by a heat‐induced SERS method developed by our group. The results have shown that a strong SERS signal can be obtained at pH 4.0, using an Ag colloid prepared with the reduction time of 15 min (the average size of Ag nanoparticle is 56.5 nm) dilution prepared Ag colloid by a factor of 2 by use of a 5 mM citrate buffer, using 6 mM NaNO₃ and drying the sample at 100 °C, respectively. Based on the results, two possible mechanisms for proteins to form SERS hot sites during the sample preparations are proposed. A semi‐quantitative SERS detection of ribonuclease B has been investigated. Also, NaNO₂, Mg (NO₃)₂, MgSO₄ and Na₂SO₄ have been found to be suitable for the heat‐induced SERS method. Importantly, samples prepared by the heat‐induced SERS method are so stable that these samples can be used as a standard and transferred to different laboratories for direct comparison. Namely, it can overcome uncontrollable aggregation of Ag colloids in a solution sample. All these advantages and the simplicity of experimental setup have demonstrated that the heat‐induced SERS method using NaNO₃ as an electrolyte is very promising for label‐free routine and quantitative detection of proteins. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Excitation wavelength dependent surface-enhanced Raman spectra of a dipping film of azobenzene-containing long-chain fatty acid on a silver mirror

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of dipping films of azobenzene-containing long-chain fatty acids, nAmH (n=8, 12, m=3, 5), on silver mirrors measured with a wide range of excitation wavelengths in the 457.9-1064 nm region is reported. The obtained Raman spectra show great SERS effect even with the 1064 nm excitation, and the excitation with 457.9, 476.5, and 488.0 nm gives surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) due to the resonance effect of the symmetry-forbidden n-pi* transition of the azo group. Of particular note in the present study is that the SERS spectra with the excitation in the 532-1064 nm region yield Raman bands whose frequencies are almost identical to those bands in Raman spectra of nAmH in solid state while the SERRS spectra with the excitation in the 457.9-514.5 nm region show not only a set of bands which correspond to those of nAmH in the solid state but also a set of bands whose frequencies show a significant shift from those of the bands of nAmH in the solid state. These observations lead us to conclude that there are two kinds of molecular aggregates in the dipping films of azobenzene-containing long-chain fatty acid in which azobenzene moieties are condensed to form small bundles.