Meng Luping, Liu Guangqiang, Feng Zongying
School of Optoelectronic Engineering, Zaozhuang University Zaozhuang 277160 China
School of Physics and Physical Engineering, Qufu Normal University Qufu 273100 China
RSC Adv. 2025 Mar 14;15(10):7987-7994. doi: 10.1039/d4ra08733j. eCollection 2025 Mar 6.
In this study, we developed a convenient and effective method for the fabrication of evanescent wave fiber surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) probes constructed with ordered silver nanocolumn arrays on the curved surface of an exposed core. An exposed core optical fiber (ECF) is a type of fiber in which the cladding is intentionally removed, providing direct access to the evanescent field of the core. Such fibers enable obtaining high evanescent field power on the core side and rapid liquid infiltration and offer a strong interaction of the evanescent wave with analytes and a long effective interaction path. Besides, the silver nanocolumn array structure coated on the curved surface of the exposed core has a larger specific surface area. Furthermore, the silver nanocolumn array structures enhance the local evanescent field surrounding the ECF to excite the target molecules and have strong light capture for the incident light, providing light-matter overlap and enhanced interaction to improve sensitivity. Such ECF SERS probes can efficiently detect 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) and thiram , and a low detection limit of 10 M for 4-ATP is achieved. This paper presents an easy and cost-effective technique for fabricating a highly effective and good reproducible evanescent wave fiber SERS probe, taking advantage of the synergy between manipulated ECF properties and silver nanocolumn array structures, and the probe exhibits great potential for label-free sensing and detection of biomolecules.
在本研究中，我们开发了一种便捷有效的方法来制备倏逝波光纤表面增强拉曼散射（SERS）探针，该探针由暴露纤芯曲面上的有序银纳米柱阵列构成。暴露纤芯光纤（ECF）是一种故意去除包层的光纤，可直接接触纤芯的倏逝场。此类光纤能够在纤芯侧获得高倏逝场功率，并实现快速液体浸润，且能使倏逝波与分析物产生强烈相互作用，并具有较长的有效相互作用路径。此外，涂覆在暴露纤芯曲面上的银纳米柱阵列结构具有更大的比表面积。再者，银纳米柱阵列结构增强了暴露纤芯周围的局部倏逝场以激发目标分子，并且对入射光具有很强的光捕获能力，提供了光与物质的重叠以及增强的相互作用以提高灵敏度。此类ECF SERS探针能够有效检测4-氨基硫酚（4-ATP）和福美双，并且实现了对4-ATP低至10⁻⁹ M的检测限。本文利用调控的ECF特性与银纳米柱阵列结构之间的协同作用，提出了一种简便且经济高效的技术来制备高效且重现性良好的倏逝波光纤SERS探针，该探针在无标记传感和生物分子检测方面展现出巨大潜力。
