title: Large-scale synthesis of flexible free-standing SERS substrates with high sensitivity: electrospun PVA nanofibers embedded with controlled alignment of silver nanoparticles.
abstract: A new and facile way to synthesize a free-standing and flexible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate has been successfully developed, where high SERS-active Ag dimers or aligned aggregates are assembled within poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers with chain-like arrays via electrospinning technique. The aggregation state of the obtained Ag nanoparticle dimers or larger, which are formed in a concentrated PVA solution, makes a significant contribution to the high sensitivity of SERS to 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) molecules with an enhancement factor (EF) of 10(9). The superiority of enhancement ability of this Ag/PVA nanofiber mat is also shown in the comparison to other substrates. Furthermore, the Ag/PVA nanofiber mat would keep a good reproducibility under a low concentration of 4-MBA molecule (10(-6) M) detection with the average RSD values of the major Raman peak less than 0.07. The temporal stability of the substrate has also been demonstrated. This disposable, easy handled, flexible free-standing substrate integrated the advantages including the superiority of high sensitivity, reproducibility, stability, large-scale, and low-cost production compared with other conventional SERS substrates, implying that it is a perfect choice for practical SERS detection application.
authors.affiliation: The School of Chemistry & Materials, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Qiao-Feng
authors.initials: QF
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shu-Hong
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry*; D012399:Rotation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D012834:Silver; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol