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14 pages, 2952 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Highly Sensitive and Wide-Range Detection of Thiabendazole via Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Using Bimetallic Nanoparticle-Functionalized Nanopillars

by Hyunjun Park, Gayoung Kim, Woochang Kim, Eugene Park, Joohyung Park and Jinsung Park

Biosensors 2024, 14(3), 133; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios14030133 - 4 Mar 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2680

Abstract

Thiabendazole (TBZ) is a benzimidazole; owing to its potent antimicrobial properties, TBZ is extensively employed in agriculture as a fungicide and pesticide. However, TBZ poses environmental risks, and excessive exposure to TBZ through various leakage pathways can cause adverse effects in humans. Therefore, a method must be developed for early and sensitive detection of TBZ over a range of concentrations, considering both human and environmental perspectives. In this study, we used silver nanopillar structures (SNPis) and Au@Ag bimetallic nanoparticles (BNPs) to fabricate a BNP@SNPi substrate. This substrate exhibited a broad reaction surface with significantly enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering hotspots, demonstrating excellent Raman performance, along with high reproducibility, sensitivity, and selectivity for TBZ detection. Ultimately, the BNP@SNPi substrate successfully detected TBZ across a wide concentration range in samples of tap water, drinking water, juice, and human serum, with respective limits of detection of 146.5, 245.5, 195.6, and 219.4 pM. This study highlights BNP@SNPi as a promising sensor platform for TBZ detection in diverse environments and contributes to environmental monitoring and bioanalytical studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced SERS Biosensors for Detection and Analysis)

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13 pages, 5492 KiB

Open AccessArticle

TiO₂ Thickness-Dependent Charge Transfer in an Ordered Ag/TiO₂/Ni Nanopillar Arrays Based on Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

by Cai Wang, Xufeng Guo and Qun Fu

Materials 2022, 15(10), 3716; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15103716 - 22 May 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2615

Abstract

In this study, an ordered Ag/TiO₂/Ni nanopillar arrays hybrid substrate was designed, and the charge transfer (CT) process at the metal–semiconductor and substrate–molecule interface was investigated based on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of 4-Aminothiophenol (PATP) absorbed on the composite system. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption of Ag changes due to the regulation of TiO₂ thickness, which leads to different degrees of CT enhancement in the system. The CT degree of SERS spectra obtained at different excitation wavelengths was calculated to study the contribution of CT enhancement to SERS, and a TiO₂ thickness-dependent CT enhancement mechanism was proposed. Furthermore, Ag/TiO₂/Ni nanopillar arrays possessed favorable detection ability and uniformity, which has potential as a SERS-active substrate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Study on Advanced Metal Matrix Composites)

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17 pages, 4817 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fabrication of Multifunctional SERS Platform Based on Ag NPs Self-Assembly Ag-AAO Nanoarray for Direct Determination of Pesticide Residues and Baicalein in Real Samples

by Guochao Shi, Kuihua Li, Jungai Gu, Wenzhi Yuan, Shiqi Xu, Wei Han, Jianjun Gu, Liyong Wang, Zhibin Zhang, Congzhe Chen, Jialin Ge and Mingli Wang

Coatings 2021, 11(9), 1054; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11091054 - 31 Aug 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3513

Abstract

Aiming at the shortcomings of high cost and time-consumption in traditional liquid chromatography, an effective surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based trace detection method has been proposed to quantitatively identify the active component of traditional Chinese medicine. In this paper, a high-performance and versatile SERS platform based on Ag nanoparticles (NPs) self-assembly Ag-anodized aluminium (Ag NPs-Ag-AAO) nanoarray was fabricated by controllable physico-chemical preparation technology. The results indicated that the electromagnetic field enhancement effect was sharply strengthened as Ag NPs assembled, and the experimental enhancement factor (EEF) value was calculated to be 1.0083 × 10⁶. This novel Ag NPs-Ag-AAO nanoarray with substantial “hot spots” exhibited high SERS signal reproducibility, with the relative standard deviation (RSD) value at less than 2.23%. More importantly, this SERS platform was applied to detect active component Baicalein in Scutellaria baicalensis, and the limit of detection (LOD) was located at 10 fg/mL. Therefore, this Ag NPs-Ag-AAO nanoarray with high sensitivity, strong Raman signal reproducibility and reliable practicability has broad application prospects in the rapid detection of trace substances in the active components of traditional Chinese medicine and is expected to be popularized. Full article

(This article belongs to the Collection Advanced Surface Coating of Nanoparticles)

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14 pages, 4990 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Green and Sustainable Manufacture of Ultrapure Engineered Nanomaterials

by David Ortiz de Zárate, Carlos García-Meca, Elena Pinilla-Cienfuegos, José A. Ayúcar, Amadeu Griol, Laurent Bellières, Esther Hontañón, Frank E. Kruis and Javier Martí

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(3), 466; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10030466 - 5 Mar 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3589

Abstract

Nanomaterials with very specific features (purity, colloidal stability, composition, size, shape, location…) are commonly requested by cutting-edge technologic applications, and hence a sustainable process for the mass-production of tunable/engineered nanomaterials would be desirable. Despite this, tuning nano-scale features when scaling-up the production of nanoparticles/nanomaterials has been considered the main technological barrier for the development of nanotechnology. Aimed at overcoming these challenging frontier, a new gas-phase reactor design providing a shorter residence time, and thus a faster quenching of nanoclusters growth, is proposed for the green, sustainable, versatile, cost-effective, and scalable manufacture of ultrapure engineered nanomaterials (ranging from nanoclusters and nanoalloys to engineered nanostructures) with a tunable degree of agglomeration, composition, size, shape, and location. This method enables: (1) more homogeneous, non-agglomerated ultrapure Au-Ag nanoalloys under 10 nm; (2) 3-nm non-agglomerated ultrapure Au nanoclusters with lower gas flow rates; (3) shape-controlled Ag NPs; and (4) stable Au and Ag engineered nanostructures: nanodisks, nanocrosses, and 3D nanopillars. In conclusion, this new approach paves the way for the green and sustainable mass-production of ultrapure engineered nanomaterials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials Engineering by Green Techniques: Concepts and Applications)

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9 pages, 1585 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Highly Sensitive and Selective Nanogap-Enhanced SERS Sensing Platform

by ChaeWon Mun, Vo Thi Nhat Linh, Jung-Dae Kwon, Ho Sang Jung, Dong-Ho Kim and Sung-Gyu Park

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(4), 619; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9040619 - 16 Apr 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4012

Abstract

This paper reports a highly sensitive and selective surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensing platform. We used a simple fabrication method to generate plasmonic hotspots through a direct maskless plasma etching of a polymer surface and the surface tension-driven assembly of high aspect ratio Ag/polymer nanopillars. These collapsed plasmonic nanopillars produced an enhanced near-field interaction via coupled localized surface plasmon resonance. The high density of the small nanogaps yielded a high plasmonic detection performance, with an average SERS enhancement factor of 1.5 × 10⁷. More importantly, we demonstrated that the encapsulation of plasmonic nanostructures within nanofiltration membranes allowed the selective filtration of small molecules based on the degree of membrane swelling in organic solvents and molecular size. Nanofiltration membrane-encapsulated SERS substrates do not require pretreatments. Therefore, they provide a simple and fast detection of toxic molecules using portable Raman spectroscopy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in Nano-World)

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10 pages, 3779 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wafer-Scale Hierarchical Nanopillar Arrays Based on Au Masks and Reactive Ion Etching for Effective 3D SERS Substrate

by Dandan Men, Yingyi Wu, Chu Wang, Junhuai Xiang, Ganlan Yang, Changjun Wan and Honghua Zhang

Materials 2018, 11(2), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11020239 - 4 Feb 2018

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4435

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) periodic micro/nanostructured arrays as SERS substrates have attracted intense attention due to their excellent uniformity and good stability. In this work, periodic hierarchical SiO₂ nanopillar arrays decorated with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with clean surface were prepared on a wafer-scale using monolayer Au NP arrays as masks, followed by reactive ion etching (RIE), depositing Ag layer and annealing. For the prepared SiO₂ nanopillar arrays decorated with Ag NPs, the size of Ag NPs was tuned from ca. 24 to 126 nanometers by controlling the deposition thickness of Ag film. Importantly, the SiO₂ nanopillar arrays decorated with Ag NPs could be used as highly sensitive SERS substrate for the detection of 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) and rhodamine 6G (R6G) due to the high loading of Ag NPs and a very uniform morphology. With a deposition thickness of Ag layer of 30 nm, the SiO₂ nanopillar arrays decorated with Ag NPs exhibited the best sensitive SERS activity. The excellent SERS performance of this substrate is mainly attributed to high-density “hotspots” derived from nanogaps between Ag NPs. Furthermore, this strategy might be extended to synthesize other nanostructured arrays with a large area, which are difficult to be prepared only via conventional wet-chemical or physical methods. Full article

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20 pages, 6922 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nanoimprinted Hybrid Metal-Semiconductor Plasmonic Multilayers with Controlled Surface Nano Architecture for Applications in NIR Detectors

by Akram A. Khosroabadi, Palash Gangopadhyay, Steven Hernandez, Kyungjo Kim, Nasser Peyghambarian and Robert A. Norwood

Materials 2015, 8(8), 5028-5047; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma8085028 - 7 Aug 2015

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 7342

Abstract

We present a proof of concept for tunable plasmon resonance frequencies in a core shell nano-architectured hybrid metal-semiconductor multilayer structure, with Ag as the active shell and ITO as the dielectric modulation media. Our method relies on the collective change in the dielectric function within the metal semiconductor interface to control the surface. Here we report fabrication and optical spectroscopy studies of large-area, nanostructured, hybrid silver and indium tin oxide (ITO) structures, with feature sizes below 100 nm and a controlled surface architecture. The optical and electrical properties of these core shell electrodes, including the surface plasmon frequency, can be tuned by suitably changing the order and thickness of the dielectric layers. By varying the dimensions of the nanopillars, the surface plasmon wavelength of the nanopillar Ag can be tuned from 650 to 690 nm. Adding layers of ITO to the structure further shifts the resonance wavelength toward the IR region and, depending on the sequence and thickness of the layers within the structure, we show that such structures can be applied in sensing devices including enhancing silicon as a photodetection material. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasmonic Materials)

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