Issue 4, 2018

Nanoscale chemical imaging of solid–liquid interfaces using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is a powerful tool for non-destructive and label-free surface molecular mapping at the nanoscale. However, to date nanoscale resolution chemical imaging in a liquid environment has not been possible, in part due to the lack of robust TERS probes that are stable when immersed in a liquid. In this work, we have addressed this challenge by developing plasmonically-active TERS probes with a multilayer metal coating structure that can be successfully used within a liquid environment. Using these novel TERS probes, we have compared the plasmonic enhancement of TERS signals in air and water environments for both gap mode and non-gap mode configurations and show that in both cases the plasmonic enhancement decreases in water. To better understand the signal attenuation in water, we have performed numerical simulations that revealed a negative correlation between the electric field enhancement at the TERS probe-apex and the refractive index of the surrounding medium. Finally, using these robust probes we demonstrate TERS imaging with nanoscale spatial resolution in a water environment for the first time by employing single-wall carbon nanotubes as a model sample. Our findings are expected to broaden the scope of TERS to a range of scientific disciplines in which nanostructured solid–liquid interfaces play a key role.

Graphical abstract: Nanoscale chemical imaging of solid–liquid interfaces using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 nov. 2017
Accepted
07 dic. 2017
First published
08 ene. 2018

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 1815-1824

Nanoscale chemical imaging of solid–liquid interfaces using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

N. Kumar, W. Su, M. Veselý, B. M. Weckhuysen, A. J. Pollard and A. J. Wain, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 1815 DOI: 10.1039/C7NR08257F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements