Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an analytical technique in which the signal of a sample can be amplified via adsorption onto a nanoscale metal particle possessing a strong surface plasmon resonance (SPR). In this study, four different types of plasmonic paper loaded with gold, silver, silver-gold core-shell, and anisotropic gold nanoparticles are reliably prepared for the detection of 4-nitrobenzenethiol using SERS. Among these nanoparticles, the anisotropic gold nanoparticles exhibit a notably high SERS response due to their increased surface areas and tunable SPR bands near the Raman excitation wavelength. Upon the addition of a second layer of metal nanoparticles to form sandwich structure, the SERS signals are significantly improved with a greater probability of SPR couplings and number of hot-spots. As such, we have thoroughly examined the signal enhancements of sandwich structures using sixteen plasmonic nanoparticle combinations to optimize the design of SERS substrates, which are directly applied to the detection of biomolecules, such as RNA, and various drugs of abuse at low concentrations.

Sandwich structure of plasmonic paper for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

2019 Spring National Meeting

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