Polyethylenimine-interlayered core-shell-satellite 3D magnetic microspheres as versatile SERS substrates

Nanoscale. 2015 Nov 28;7(44):18694-707. doi: 10.1039/c5nr04977f. Epub 2015 Oct 26.

Abstract

Precise fabrication of subtle nanogaps amid individual nanoparticles or between adjacent ones to obtain the highest SERS enhancement is still a challenge. Here, we reported a novel approach for fabricating core-shell-satellite 3D magnetic microspheres (CSSM), that easily form a porous 1.5 nm PEI interlayer to accommodate molecules and create sufficient hotspots between the inner Fe3O4@Ag core and outer assembled Au@Ag satellites. Experiments and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation demonstrated that the enhancement factor (EF) was about 2.03 × 10(8) and 6.25 × 10(6), respectively. In addition, the micro-scale magnetic core endowed the CSSM with a superior magnetic nature, which enabled easy separation and further enhanced Raman signals due to enrichment of targeted analytes and abundant interparticle hotspots created by magnetism-induced aggregation. Our results further demonstrated that the CSSM is expected to be a versatile SERS substrate, which has been verified by the detection of the adsorbed pesticide thiram and the non-adsorbed pesticide paraquat with a detection limit as low as 5 × 10(-12) M and 1 × 10(-10) M, respectively. The novel CSSM can overcome the long-standing limitations of SERS for the trace characterization of various analytes in different solutions and promises to transform SERS into a practical analytical technique.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Contrast Media / chemistry*
  • Ferrosoferric Oxide / chemistry*
  • Microspheres*
  • Polyethyleneimine / chemistry*
  • Silver / chemistry*
  • Spectrum Analysis, Raman*

Substances

  • Contrast Media
  • Silver
  • Polyethyleneimine
  • Ferrosoferric Oxide