Low-cost, disposable, flexible and highly reproducible screen printed SERS substrates for the detection of various chemicals

Wu, W., Liu, L., Dai, Z., Liu, J., Yang, S., Zhou, L., Xiao, X., Jiang, C. and Roy, V. A. L. (2015) Low-cost, disposable, flexible and highly reproducible screen printed SERS substrates for the detection of various chemicals. Scientific Reports, 5, 10208. (doi: 10.1038/srep10208) (PMID:25974125) (PMCID:PMC4431467)

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Abstract

Ideal SERS substrates for sensing applications should exhibit strong signal enhancement, generate a reproducible and uniform response and should be able to fabricate in large-scale and low-cost. Herein, we demonstrate low-cost, highly sensitive, disposable and reproducible SERS substrates by means of screen printing Ag nanoparticles (NPs) on a plastic PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) substrates. While there are many complex methods for the fabrication of SERS substrates, screen printing is suitable for large-area fabrication and overcomes the uneven radial distribution. Using as-printed Ag substrates as the SERS platform, detection of various commonly known chemicals have been done. The SERS detection limit of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) is higher than the concentration of 1 × 10−10 M. The relative standard deviation (RSD) value for 784 points on the detection of R6G and Malachite green (MG) is less than 20% revealing a homogeneous SERS distribution and high reproducibility. Moreover, melamine (MA) is detected in fresh liquid-milk without additional pretreatment, which may accelerate the application of rapid on-line detection of MA in liquid milk. Our screen printing method highlights the use of large-scale printing strategies for the fabrication of well-defined functional nanostructures with applications well beyond the field of SERS sensing.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Vellaisamy, Professor Roy
Authors: Wu, W., Liu, L., Dai, Z., Liu, J., Yang, S., Zhou, L., Xiao, X., Jiang, C., and Roy, V. A. L.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
Journal Name:Scientific Reports
Publisher:Nature Publishing Group
ISSN:2045-2322
ISSN (Online):2045-2322
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2015 The Authors
First Published:First published in Scientific Reports 5:10208
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence
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