In the last decade, scientists started to apply surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in the development of novel plasmonic anti-counterfeiting materials. This approach takes advantage of spectroscopic fingerprints thus is less susceptible to fraud. However, the capacity of information, the sensitivity of detection, and stability of these materials still need to be improved. A key step for such improvements is to make novel plasmonic nanostructures with increased SERS enhancement. Herein, we will use star-shaped gold nanoparticles as SERS substrates. These novel gold nanostars have the ability to improve the sensitivity of SERS detection. Also, various molecules could be attached onto the gold nanostars to provide high capacities of information. The encoded molecular information was then successfully decoded using principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, the as-synthesized colloidal tags can be further stabilized by introducing coatings on the surface. This anti-counterfeiting method is unique and effective, and the fabricated tags are easy to be processed and meanwhile, extremely hard to be counterfeited. It is expected that these molecular tags will have extensive applications in business, technologies, and safeties.

Encoding molecular information to plasmonic gold nanostars for anti-counterfeiting

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.