Kumar Promod, Kuznetsov A Yu, Swart H C, Prakash Jai
Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Hamirpur, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh 177005, India.
Department of Physics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, Republic of South Africa.
ACS Mater Au. 2024 Apr 10;4(4):413-423. doi: 10.1021/acsmaterialsau.4c00002. eCollection 2024 Jul 10.
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering is a practical, noninvasive spectroscopic technique that measures chemical fingerprints for varieties of molecules in multiple applications. However, synthesizing appropriate substrates for practical, long-term applications of this method has always been a challenging task. In the present study, we show that ZnO/Ag nanohybrid substrates may act as highly stable, sensitive, and recyclable substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering, as illustrated by the detection of methylene blue, selected as a test dye molecule with self-cleaning functionalities. Specifically, we demonstrate the detection enhancement factor of 3.7 × 10 along with exceptional long-term stability explained in terms of the localized surface plasmon resonance from the Ag nanocrystals embedded into the chemically inert ZnO nanoparticles, constituting the nanohybrid. Significantly, these substrates can be efficiently cleaned and regenerated while maintaining their high performance upon recycling. As a result, using these substrates, up to 10 M detection sensitivity has been demonstrated, enabling the accuracy required in modern environmental monitoring, bioassays, and analytical chemistry. Thus, ZnO nanoparticles with embedded Ag nanocrystals constitute a novel class of advanced nanohybrid substrates for use in multiple applications of surface-enhanced Raman scattering metrology.
表面增强拉曼散射是一种实用的非侵入性光谱技术，可在多种应用中测量各种分子的化学指纹。然而，为该方法的实际长期应用合成合适的基底一直是一项具有挑战性的任务。在本研究中，我们表明，ZnO/Ag纳米杂化基底可作为用于表面增强拉曼散射的高度稳定、灵敏且可回收的基底，以具有自清洁功能的亚甲基蓝作为测试染料分子的检测为例进行说明。具体而言，我们展示了3.7×10的检测增强因子以及出色的长期稳定性，这可根据嵌入化学惰性ZnO纳米颗粒（构成纳米杂化物）中的Ag纳米晶体的局域表面等离子体共振来解释。值得注意的是，这些基底在回收时可以有效地清洁和再生，同时保持其高性能。因此，使用这些基底已证明检测灵敏度高达10 M，能够满足现代环境监测、生物测定和分析化学所需的精度。因此，嵌入Ag纳米晶体的ZnO纳米颗粒构成了一类新型的先进纳米杂化基底，可用于表面增强拉曼散射计量学的多种应用。
