Black Si (b-Si) with gold or silver metal coating has been shown to be an extremely effective substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Here, we demonstrate that it is also a highly versatile SERS platform, as it supports a wide range of surface functionalizations. In particular, we report the use of a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) coating and a hydrophobic coating on b-Si to establish two different sensing modalities. First, using a MIP layer on Au-coated b-Si, we show selective sensing of two closely related varieties of tetracycline. Second, a hydrophobic coating was used to concentrate the analyte adsorbed on gold colloidal nanoparticles, thus increasing the sensitivity of the measurement by an order of magnitude. In this experiment, Au nanoparticles and analyte were mixed just before SERS measurements and were concentrated by drop-drying on the super-hydrophobic b-Si. These approaches are promising for SERS measurements that are sensitive to the aging of bare plasmonic metal-coated substrates.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Engineering
Research Group:	Materials Engineering
Research Field:	Composite and Hybrid Materials
Objective Division:	Manufacturing
Objective Group:	Instrumentation
Objective Field:	Scientific Instruments
Author:	Lapierre, F (Dr Florian Lapierre)
ID Code:	100019
Year Published:	2015
Web of Science® Times Cited:	26
Deposited By:	Austn Centre for Research in Separation Science
Deposited On:	2015-04-23
Last Modified:	2015-05-06
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