Nanorattles or yolk-shell structures use here are made of metal nanoparticles entrapped within hollow polymer nanocapsules. Porous polymer shell of nanocapsules shows size-selective permeability, which allows unhindered transport of small molecules across the wall while blocking out molecules larger than the pore size. Here we report the feasibility of using newly formed nanorattles in analysis of complex mixtures using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Small molecules enter the nanocapsules through size-selective nanopores and interact with encapsulated gold nanoparticles to produce SERS signals. In contrast, molecules larger than the pore size cannot enter the capsules and do not show SERS signal enhancement.

Size selective SERS analysis using nanorattles with porous polymer shell and entrapped gold nanoparticles

249th National Meeting (2015)

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