Issue 6, 2015

Metal–elastomer nanostructures for tunable SERS and easy microfluidic integration

Abstract

Stretchable plasmonic nanostructures constituted by Ag nanoparticles on flexible elastomeric matrices are synthesized and used as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. The structure consists of silver particles deposited by DC sputtering on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The optical transmittance spectra show marked dips related to plasmonic inter-particle short-range interactions. The substrates show noticeable Raman enhancement allowing detection of R6G at very low concentration. Under mechanically controlled stretching, the interparticle gap sizes change yielding a reversible spectral shift of the plasmonic resonance. Experimental results are validated by 3D modeling. When such a resonance matches the Raman excitation line, pronounced enhancements can be achieved, optimizing the SERS regime. Taking advantage of the PDMS matrices, these tunable SERS-active substrates are integrated in microfluidic circuitry fruitfully exploitable for on-chip label-free detection.

Graphical abstract: Metal–elastomer nanostructures for tunable SERS and easy microfluidic integration

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 okt 2014
Accepted
08 dec 2014
First published
09 dec 2014

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 4404-4410

Metal–elastomer nanostructures for tunable SERS and easy microfluidic integration

A. Lamberti, A. Virga, A. Angelini, A. Ricci, E. Descrovi, M. Cocuzza and F. Giorgis, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 4404 DOI: 10.1039/C4RA12168F

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