Surface enhanced Raman scattering of gold nanoparticles aggregated by a gold-nanofilm-coated nanofiber

Aggregation of metal nanoparticles plays an important role in surface enhanced Raman scattering(SERS). Here, a strategy of dynamically aggregating/releasing gold nanoparticles is demonstrated using a gold-nanofilm-coated nanofiber, with the assistance of enhanced optical force and plasmonic photothermal effect. Strong SERS signals of rhodamine 6 G are achieved at the hotspots formed in the inter-particle and film-particle nanogaps. The proposed SERS substrate was demonstrated to have a sensitivity of 10-12 M, reliable reproducibility, and good stability.

Monitoring the penetration and accumulation of gold nanoparticles in rat skin ex vivo using surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy

Contamination by accidental cutaneous contact with the commercial products and the air pol-hutants raised a considerable health and safety issue.This study aimed to trace the dynamics of the 20 nm gold nanopartide(GNP)penetration and accumulation in rat skin tissues using a surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)techmique.After the topical application of GNPs on rat skin surface,the SERS spectra were recorded for every 15 pum to an overall depth of 75 pum from skin surface for 150 min.The processes of GNP penetration in rat skin were accompanied by aggregation of GNPs,which affected SERS spectra.The results revealed that 20 nm GNPs can penetrate through stratum corneum layer,viable epidermis layer,and then into dermis layer.This study demonstrated for the first time the potential of SERS spectroscopy to monitor the penetration and accumulation of GNPs in rat skin.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering properties of highly ordered self-assemblies of gold nanorods with different aspect ratios

Gold nanorods with aspect ratios of from 1 （particles） to 31.6 were synthesized by the seed-mediated method and packed in a highly ordered structure on a large scale on silicon substrates through capillary force induced self-assembly behaviour during solvent evaporation. The gold nanorod surface exhibits a strong enhancing effect on Raman scattering spectroscopy. The enhancement of Raman scattering for two model molecules （2-naphthalenethiol and rhodamine 6C） is about 5-6 orders of magnitude. By changing the aspect ratio of the Au nanorods, we found that the enhancement factors decreased with the increase of aspect ratios. The observed Raman scattering enhancement is strong and should be ascribed to the surface plasmon coupling between closely packed nanorods, which may result in huge local electromagnetic field enhancements in those confined junctions.

Controllable Silver Plating on Silica for Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering

We proposed a facile and rapid method for preparing silica-silver core-shell（SSCS） substrates to use Ag electroless plating on SiO2@Au-seed particles.UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectrometer and SEM were employed to monitor the reaction process of the formation of Ag on the surfaces of silica beads,and the optical resonance of the substrate could shift from visible to NIR region.It has been found that surface-enhanced Raman scattering（SERS） enhancement changes with the electroless plating time and the SSCS substrate with the plating time of 90 s（90SSCS） shows the strongest SERS response under the laser excitation at 514.5 nm.Signals collected over multiple spots and substrate of rhodamine 6G（R6G） resulted in a relative standard deviation（RSD） of 9.75%.The calculated enhancement factor（EF） was approximately 105 ＂106.SSCS substrate exhibits high SERS performance,which is due to electromagnetic SERS enhancement with additional localization field within closely packed Ag nanoparticles decorated on the SiO2 nanoparticles.And this substrate presents tunable and broad localized surface plasmon resonance（LSPR）,so this method may open a new way for SERS studies with other laser excitation.

Rapid Identification of Legionella Pathogenicity by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Objective To establish Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy（SERS） can be used as a rapid and reliable method to distinguish virulent strain and mild strain of L. pneumophila. Methods We isolated and characterized of bacterial strains from ATCC and water samples strains, while we analyzed data from SERS technology using gold nanoparticles as a base and cell infections were employed to rapidly detect L. pneumophila strains. Origin 8.0 was used to collect Raman spectra, smooth and homogenize data, and to contrast spectra. Principal component analysis（PCA） was conducted to discriminate differences between groups using the multivariate analysis package Py Chem 3.0.5. Results Our results indicated that the peaks of high virulence strains reached ≥4000. This criterion was verified by subsequent cell experiments. In addition, we also conducted SERS rapid identification on the virulence of several collected clinical strains and obtained accurate results. Conclusion The present study indicates that the established SERS protocol can be used as a rapid and reliable method to distinguish virulent and mildly virulent strains of L. pneumophila, which can be further used in clinical samples.

DNA origami-templated assembly of plasmonic nanostructures with enhanced Raman scattering

DNA origami have been established as versatile templates to fabricate plasmonic nanostructures in predefined shapes and multiple dimensions. Limited to the size of DNA origami, which are approximate to 100 nm, it is hard to assemble more intricate plasmonic nanostructures in large scale. Herein, we used rectangular DNA origami as the template to anchor two 30-nm gold nanoparticles(Au NPs) which induced dimers nanostructures. Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) images showed the assembly of Au NPs with high yields. Using the linkers to organize the DNA origami templates into nanoribbons,chains of Au NPs were obtained, which was validated bythe TEM images. Furthermore, we observed a significant Raman signal enhancement from molecules covalently attached to the Au NP-dimers and Au NP-chains. Our method opens up the prospects of high-ordered plasmonic nanostructures with tailored optical properties.

Preparation of SiO_2@Au nanorod array as novel surface enhanced Raman substrate for trace pollutants detection

An effective surface enhanced Raman scattering（SERS） substrate is designed and fabricated by synthesis of Si O2 nanorods array via glancing angle deposition, followed by coating Au nanoparticles onto Si O2 surface in order to create numerous ＂hot spots＂. The detecting sensitivity of such substrate could be optimized by simply adjusting the deposition time of Au. Thus, it can be used for detection of Rhodamine 6G at concentration as low as 10^-9M. Furthermore, our SERS substrate is applied to detect 5 μg/g polychlorinated biphenyls in soil sample, which proves its potential for trace environmental pollutants detection.

Influence of local environment on the intensity of the localized surface plasmon polariton of Ag nanoparticles

A combined Ag nanoparticle with an insulating or conductive layer structure has been designed tor molecular detection using surface enhanced Raman scattering microscopy. Optical absorption studies revealed localized surface plasmon resonance, which shows regular red shift with increasing environmental dielectric constant. With the combined structure of surface enhanced Raman scattering substrates and rhodamine 6C as a test molecule, the results in this paper show that the absorption has a linear relationship with the local electromagnetic field for insulating substrates, and the electrical property of the substrate has a non-negligible effect on the intensity of the local electromagnetic field and hence the Raman enhancement.

One-step Synthesis of Shape-controllable Gold Nanoparticles and Their Application in Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering

Gold nanoparticles （NPs） of various shapes were synthesized by a one-step method at ambient temperature in the presence of NaCl. 2-mercaptosuccinic acid （MSA） was used as both reducing agent and stabilizing agent. The shapes of gold NPs were controllable by simply tuning S/Au ratio （S is from MSA molecule, and S/Au ratio is controlled by tuning the volume of added MSA solution）, and triangle, polygonal and spherical nanoparticles were obtained. This result suggested a new way to consider the effects of MSA on the growth of nanoparticles, which showed that MSA is a strong capping agent and facilitates more uniform growth of nanoparticles in every dimension. And other important factors on nanoparticles growth including NaCl and temperature were discussed. Furthermore, a typical probe molecule, 4-aminothiophenol （4-ATP） was used to test the surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） activity of these gold NPs and the results indicated good Raman activity on these substrates. And the enhancement factor （EF） at 1078 cm^- 1 （a1） was estimated to be as large as 6.3 × 10^4 and 5.5 × 10^4 for triangular plates and truncated particles, respectively.

Applications of magnetic nanoparticles in surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)detection of environmental pollutants

Environmental pollution, a major problem worldwide, poses considerable threat to human health and ecological environment. Efficient and reliable detection technologies, which focus on the appearance of emerging environmental and trace pollutants, are urgently needed. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS) has become an attractive analytical tool for sensing trace targets in environmental field because of its inherent molecular fingerprint specificity and high sensitivity. In this review, we focused on the recent developments in the integration of magnetic nanoparticles(MNPs) with SERS for facilitating sensitive detection of environmental pollutants. An overview and classification of different types of MNPs for SERS detection were initially provided, enabling us to categorize the huge amount of literature that was available in the interdisciplinary research field of MNPs based SERS technology. Then, the basic working principles and applications of MNPs in SERS detection were presented. Subsequently, the detection technologies integrating MNPs with SERS that eventually were used for the detection of various environmental pollutions were reviewed. Finally, the advantages of MNP-basedSERS detection technology for environmental pollutants were concluded, and the current challenges and future outlook of this technology in practical applications were highlighted. The application of the MNPsbasedSERS techniques for environmental analysis will be significantly advanced with the great progresses of the nanotechnologies, optics, and materials.

Convective Assembly of Linear Gold Nanoparticle Arrays at the Micron Scale for Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering

在类似于一支吸量管钢笔的写的行动的微米规模的一种对流集会技术与微米规模宽度和毫米规模长度为金 nanoparticle 脱衣的线性集会被开发了因为表面提高了散布的拉曼(重量的单位) 。有比 3 nm 小的 interparticle 差距的数组六角形地在吸量管尖端的附近被叠。叠的层的可变数字和装配 nanoparticles 的干净表面被优化吸量管尖端的速度获得。装配 nanoparticle 数组的重量的单位性质依靠他们的叠的数字和表面清洁。

Covalentimmobilization of oligoDNA on the surface of magnetic nanoparticles and surface-enhanced Raman scattering study

The DNA magnetic nanoparticles are poten-tially useful in isolating and purifying DNA or RNA, direct-ing-target-medicines, the development of DNA biosensors and biochips. Surface functionalized magnetic nanoparticles with monodispersed shape and size were prepared by coating nano-sized g-Fe2O3 with silica in reverse microemulsion, and then thiol-compounds were immobilized onto the magnetic nanoparticles. After immobilizing oligoDNA modified with thiol-disulfide on the surface of the fictionalized magnetic nanoparticles, we obtained DNA-magnetic nanoparticles. The efficiency of the single-linking probes loading at the surfaces of magnetic nanoparticles was examined via hy-bridization experiment. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering methods were also effectively applied to observing the immobilization and hybridization processes mentioned above. The results demonstrated oligoDNA being availably connected to the surface of the magnetic nanoparticles.

Detection of chlorpyrifos in apples using gold nanoparticles based on surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

In this study,gold nanoparticles(AuNPs)were synthesized for rapid and sensitive characterization and quantification of chlorpyrifos in apples.Min-max signal adaptive zooming and second derivative transformation method were adopted to pre-process Raman spectral signal.The min-max signal adaptive zooming method showed a higher correlation coefficient than derivative transformation when developing linear calibration curve between chlorpyrifos pesticide and Raman spectral peak intensity.The present method had a high reproducibility with the relative standard deviation less than 15%.Regression models showed a good linear relationship(R=0.962)between intensity of characteristic spectral peaks(at 677 cm-1)and chlorpyrifos concentration on whole apples ranging from 0.13 mg/kg to 7.59 mg/kg.The application of surface enhancement Raman spectroscopy(SERS)detected chlorpyrifos pesticide to the detection limit of 0.13 mg/kg,which can be applied further for lower concentration in the future.The method presented in this study can provide a way-out for detection of pesticide residue in whole apple to trace amount.

Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering of Aggregated 2, 2'-Cyanine Adsorbed on Silver Colloid

1 Introduction To our knowledge, cyanine dyes have been widely used as photographic sensitizers and biological fluorescence probes. Recently, the investigation of the optical and nonlinear optical properties of aggregates has attracted considerable attention, because of possible applications of these materials to the field of optical communication and computing. Many studies on the optical dynamics of aggregated cyanine dyes were re-

Enormous enhancement of electric field in active gold nanoshells

The electric field enhancement properties of an active gold nanoshell with gain material inside have been investigated by using Mie theory. As the gain coefficient of the inner core increases to a critical value, a super-resonance appears in the active gold nanoshell, and enormous enhancements of the electric fields can be found near the surface of the particle. With increasing shell thickness, the critical value of the gain coefficient for the super-resonance of the active gold nanoshell first decreases and then increases, and the corresponding surface enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） enhancement factor （G factor） also first increases and then decreases. The optimized active gold nanoshell can be obtained with an extremely high SERS G factor of the order of 1019-1020. Such an optimized active gold nanoshell possesses a high-efficiency SERS effect and may be useful for single-molecule detection.

A facile route to the hierarchical assembly of Au nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes through Cu^(2＋) coordination for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

We report the hierarchical assembly of Au nanoparticles on carboxylized carbon nanotubes（c-CNTs）through Cu^（2＋） coordination. This route is facile and green, and can easily control the loading density of Au nanoparticles. The c-CNT matrix ensures uniform distribution of Au nanoparticles, which is particularly important for the enrichment of hot spots while preventing their serious agglomeration. Moreover, the cCNT matrix also contributes to the electromagnetic enhancement due to its surface plasmon resonance,and the chemical enhancement due to the adsorption of the target molecules. The resulting Au@c-CNT nanohybrids exhibit a remarkable synergy in SERS compared to neat Au nanoparticles.

Fundamental studies on enhancement and blinking mechanism of surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） and basic applications of SERS biological sensing

我们考察最近我们在有试图识别使用的改进和眨眼的机制的实验上的强调的散布的提高表面的拉曼(重量的单位) 的基本学习的结果挑选 nanoparticle dimers 依附染分子的 Ag。这些结果是在电磁的机制的框架讨论的份量上。我们也考察最近我们在为在单个房间和单个分子下面的关于房间表面分子和疾病标记分子的区别的察觉的生物察觉到的基本重量的单位应用的结果铺平。

A Sensitive Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering Method for Determination of Melamine with Aptamer-modified Nanosilver Probe

The small nanosilver was prepared by the sodium borohydride procedure. The aptamer was used to modify nanosilver to obtain a nanosilver-aptamer （AgssDNA） SERS probe for the determination of melamine. In pH 6.6 phosphate buffer solution and in the presence of NaCI, the AgssDNA probe specifically combined with melamine to release nanosilver particles that were aggregated to nanosilver clusters, which exhibited SERS effect at 240 cm-1. When melamine concentration increased, the nanosilver clusters increased, and the SERS intensity at 240 cm-1 in- creased. The increased SERS intensity AI240cm, is linear to melamine concentration in the range of 6.3--403.6 μg.L 1, with a detection limit of 1.2 μg L 1. This assay was applied to determination of melamine in milk, with sat- isfactory results. Keywords melamine, apatmer-modified nanosilver, aggregation, surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Mercuric ions induced aggregation of gold nanoparticles as investigated by localized surface plasmon resonance light scattering and dynamic light scattering techniques

With the development of nanosciences, both localized surface plasmon resonance light scattering (LSPR-LS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) techniques have been widely used for quantitative purposes with high sensitivity. In this contribution, we make a comparison of the two light scattering techniques by employing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) aggregation induced by mercuric ions. It was found that citrate-stabilized AuNPs got aggregated in aqueous medium in the presence of mercuric ions through a chelation process, resulting in greatly enhanced LSPR-LS signals and increased hydrodynamic diameter. The enhanced LSPR-LS intensity ( I) is proportional to the concentration of mercuric ions in the range of 0.4-2.5 M following the linear regression equation of I = 84.7+516.4c, with the correlation coefficient of 0.983 (n = 6) and the limit of determination (3 ) about 0.10 M. On the other hand, the increased hydrodynamic diameter can be identified by the DLS signals only with a concentration of Hg 2+ in the range of 1.0-2.5 M, and a linear relationship between the average hydrodynamic diameters of the resulted aggregates and the concentration of Hg 2+ can be expressed as d = 6.16 + 45.9c with the correlation coefficient of 0.994. In such case, LSPR-LS signals were further applied to the selective determination of mercuric ions in lake water samples with high sensitivity and simple operation.