Facile synthesis of nanocellulose-based Cu2O/Ag heterostructure as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate for trace dye detection

Yinglin Luo; Lida Xing; Chuanshuang Hu; Weiwei Zhang; Xiuyi Lin; Jin Gu

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.02.102

Facile synthesis of nanocellulose-based Cu₂O/Ag heterostructure as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate for trace dye detection

Int J Biol Macromol. 2022 Apr 30:205:366-375. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.02.102. Epub 2022 Feb 19.

Authors

Yinglin Luo¹, Lida Xing², Chuanshuang Hu³, Weiwei Zhang¹, Xiuyi Lin¹, Jin Gu⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials and Energy, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, PR China.
² State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, PR China.
³ College of Materials and Energy, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, PR China. Electronic address: cshu@scau.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Materials and Energy, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, PR China. Electronic address: gujin@scau.edu.cn.

PMID: 35192906
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.02.102

Abstract

Semiconductor metal-oxide/metal heterostructures with synergetic properties have potential applications in photocatalysis and optical sensors. Here, Cu₂O sub-micro cubes were synthesized under environmentally benign conditions using 2, 2, 6, 6-tetramethylpyperdine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils as a reducing and stabilizing agent. Then the surface of the Cu₂O cubes was decorated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by a substitution reaction. The Cu₂O/Ag heterostructures within the cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) network were employed as a promising surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) assay for efficient sensing of methylene blue (MB), reaching a maximum enhancement factor (EF) of 4.0 × 10⁴. Their SERS intensities depended on the coverage density of AgNPs and the wavelength of the excitation laser. The excellent SERS performance may result from the charge transfer between Ag and Cu₂O molecules and the strong electromagnetic field at the interface. The CNF-Cu₂O/Ag substrates were capable of detecting MB dye down to 10^-8 M level with a relative standard deviation of 10-15%, demonstrating great sensitivity and reproducibility.

Keywords: Cu(2)O/Ag heterostructure; Surface-enhanced Raman scattering; TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils.

MeSH terms

Cellulose / chemistry
Metal Nanoparticles* / chemistry
Reproducibility of Results
Silver / chemistry
Spectrum Analysis, Raman*

Substances

Silver
Cellulose