Fabrication of highly oriented 1D SiNW arrays/Au for femto molar level detection of H1N1 protein

Abstract

Hybrid nanostructures based on SiNWs decorated with Au NPs has been developed via a facile fabrication technique. SiNWs exhibiting various nanowires length were fabricated and tested as SERS Raman active platform for label free detection of protein molecule. Structural and morphological analyses were conducted and the results were correlated with the finale SiNWs/Au hybrid sensor performance. Initially, rhodamine 6G detection (R6G) is utilized, in order to pinpoint the optimized parameters involved in ultra-fast sensing. AuNPs decorated SiNWs with length 6.19 μm exhibited the best sensitivity toward the R6G detection. Further on, the ability of developed hybrid nanostructures was evaluated for H1N1 viral protein sensing. Higher Signal homogeneity throughout the sensor surface was demonstrated with Raman mapping. Remarkably, the designed SiNWs/Au hybrid direct SERS sensor achieved detection limit down to femto-molar concentration of H1N1 viral protein which is one of the unique reports in the context of bio-sensing. The current findings may perhaps worthwhile for bio-medical diagnostics as rapid screening tests in near future.