title: Portable and Reliable Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Silicon Chip for Signal-On Detection of Trace Trinitrotoluene Explosive in Real Systems.
abstract: There is an increasing interest in the development of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors for rapid and accurate on-site detection of hidden explosives. However, portable SERS methods for trace explosive detection in real systems remain scarce, mainly due to their relatively poor reliability and portability. Herein, we present the first demonstration of a portable silicon-based SERS analytical platform for signal-on detection of trace trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosives, which is made of silver nanoparticle (AgNP)-decorated silicon wafer chip (0.5 cm × 0.5 cm). In principle, under 514 nm excitation, the Raman signals of p-aminobenzenethiol (PABT) modified on the AgNP surface could be largely lit up due to the formation of electronic resonance-active TNT-PABT complex. In addition, the surface of AgNPs and silicon substrate-induced plasmon resonances also contribute the total SERS enhancement. For quantitative evaluation, the as-prepared chip features ultrahigh sensitivity [limit of detection is down to ∼1 pM (∼45.4 fg/cm2)] and adaptable reproducibility (relative standard deviation is less than 15%) in the detection of TNT standard solutions. More importantly, the developed chip can couple well with a hand-held Raman spectroscopic device using 785 nm excitation, suitable for qualitative analysis of trace TNT even at ∼10-8M level from environmental samples including lake water, soil, envelope, and liquor with a short data acquisition time (∼1 min). Furthermore, TNT vapors diffusing from TNT residues (∼10-6M) can be detected by using such a portable device, indicating its feasibility in determination of hidden samples.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Pan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Tengyu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Houyu
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5134-9881
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1672-4057
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He