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Article

Reactive Aerosol Jet Printing of Ag Nanoparticles: A New Tool for SERS Substrate Preparation

by
Eugenio Gibertini
*,
Lydia Federica Gervasini
,
Jody Albertazzi
,
Lorenzo Maria Facchetti
,
Matteo Tommasini
,
Valentina Busini
and
Luca Magagnin
Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica “Giulio Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, 20131 Milano, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Coatings 2025, 15(8), 900; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings15080900 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 15 July 2025 / Revised: 29 July 2025 / Accepted: 30 July 2025 / Published: 1 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Surface Characterization, Deposition and Modification)

Abstract

The detection of trace chemicals at low and ultra-low concentrations is critical for applications in environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics, food safety and other fields. Conventional detection techniques often lack the required sensitivity, specificity, or cost-effectiveness, making real-time, in situ analysis challenging. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful analytical tool, offering improved sensitivity through the enhancement of Raman scattering by plasmonic nanostructures. While noble metals such as Ag and Au are currently the reference choices for SERS substrates, fabrication methods should balance enhancement efficiency, reproducibility and scalability. In this study, we propose a novel approach for SERS substrate fabrication using reactive Aerosol Jet Printing (r-AJP) as an innovative additive manufacturing technique. The r-AJP process enables in-flight Ag seed reduction and nucleation of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) by mixing silver nitrate and ascorbic acid aerosols before deposition, as suggested by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The resulting coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses, revealing the formation of nanoporous crystalline Ag agglomerates partially covered by residual matter. The as-prepared SERS substrates exhibited remarkable SERS activity, demonstrating a high enhancement factor (106) for rhodamine (R6G) detection. Our findings highlight the potential of r-AJP as a scalable and cost-effective fabrication strategy for next-generation SERS sensors, paving the way for the development of a new additive manufacturing tool for noble metal material deposition.
Keywords: silver; additive manufacturing; printing; sensor; Raman; rhodamine silver; additive manufacturing; printing; sensor; Raman; rhodamine

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Gibertini, E.; Gervasini, L.F.; Albertazzi, J.; Facchetti, L.M.; Tommasini, M.; Busini, V.; Magagnin, L. Reactive Aerosol Jet Printing of Ag Nanoparticles: A New Tool for SERS Substrate Preparation. Coatings 2025, 15, 900. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings15080900

AMA Style

Gibertini E, Gervasini LF, Albertazzi J, Facchetti LM, Tommasini M, Busini V, Magagnin L. Reactive Aerosol Jet Printing of Ag Nanoparticles: A New Tool for SERS Substrate Preparation. Coatings. 2025; 15(8):900. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings15080900

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gibertini, Eugenio, Lydia Federica Gervasini, Jody Albertazzi, Lorenzo Maria Facchetti, Matteo Tommasini, Valentina Busini, and Luca Magagnin. 2025. "Reactive Aerosol Jet Printing of Ag Nanoparticles: A New Tool for SERS Substrate Preparation" Coatings 15, no. 8: 900. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings15080900

APA Style

Gibertini, E., Gervasini, L. F., Albertazzi, J., Facchetti, L. M., Tommasini, M., Busini, V., & Magagnin, L. (2025). Reactive Aerosol Jet Printing of Ag Nanoparticles: A New Tool for SERS Substrate Preparation. Coatings, 15(8), 900. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings15080900

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