Abstract
Characterization and optimization of paper SERS substrate were performed in detail, in which morphologies and distribution of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the paper substrate pretreated with different concentrations of NaCl and the subsequent soaking with colloidal AgNPs for different period of time were evaluated. Our results show that both NaCl concentration and soaking time with AgNPs have a significant influence on SERS enhancement, showing that an optimal EF of 2.27 × 107 was achieved when the paper substrate was treated with 20 mM NaCl and one-hour soak with AgNPs. Moreover, seminal plasma (SP) was specifically selected to evaluate the performance of paper-based SERS substrate for potential clinical detection and diagnosis. The optimization of the paper SERS substrate demonstrates potential applications in reliable on-site detection of SP and clinical diagnosis of fertility-related diseases as well.
Highlights
Compared with conventional Raman spectroscopy, surfaceenhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) can provide highsensitivity detection due to its large enhancement to Raman signals [1,2,3]
Extensive efforts have been devoted to developing high-performance SERS substrates, those that are low in cost and easy to fabricate
Paper SERS substrates fabricated via soaking method have demonstrated high enhancement factors [27,28,29], and offer several distinctive features such as low cost, flexibility, and high surface area, making them an attractive platform for SERS
Summary
Compared with conventional Raman spectroscopy, surfaceenhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) can provide highsensitivity detection due to its large enhancement to Raman signals [1,2,3]. It is identified as a potentially powerful technique for biomedical and biochemical analysis in which Raman signals were usually overwhelmed by intense fluorescence background.
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