Department of Chemistry, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, 100081, Beijing, PR China.
Nat Commun. 2020 Sep 24;11(1):4772. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18590-7.
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful tool for vibrational spectroscopy as it provides several orders of magnitude higher sensitivity than inherently weak spontaneous Raman scattering by exciting localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) on metal substrates. However, SERS can be unreliable for biomedical use since it sacrifices reproducibility, uniformity, biocompatibility, and durability due to its strong dependence on "hot spots", large photothermal heat generation, and easy oxidization. Here, we demonstrate the design, fabrication, and use of a metal-free (i.e., LSPR-free), topologically tailored nanostructure composed of porous carbon nanowires in an array as a SERS substrate to overcome all these problems. Specifically, it offers not only high signal enhancement (~10) due to its strong broadband charge-transfer resonance, but also extraordinarily high reproducibility due to the absence of hot spots, high durability due to no oxidization, and high compatibility to biomolecules due to its fluorescence quenching capability.
表面增强拉曼光谱（SERS）是一种强大的振动光谱工具，因为它通过激发金属基底上的局域表面等离子体共振（LSPR），提供了比固有弱自发拉曼散射高几个数量级的灵敏度。然而，由于其强烈依赖于“热点”、大的光热产生和容易氧化，SERS 在生物医学应用中可能不可靠。在这里，我们展示了一种无金属（即无 LSPR）、拓扑剪裁的纳米结构的设计、制造和使用，该结构由多孔碳纳米线阵列组成，作为 SERS 基底，以克服所有这些问题。具体来说，它不仅由于其强的宽带电荷转移共振提供了高的信号增强（~10），而且由于不存在热点，还具有极高的重现性、由于没有氧化而具有高的耐久性、由于其荧光猝灭能力而具有高的生物分子兼容性。
