Nanoparticle polymer composites on solid substrates for plasmonic sensing applications

Abstract

Nanoparticle polymer composites have wide-ranging applications in fields such as catalysis, optoelectronics, drug delivery and biochemical sensing. In recent years, the use of noble metal nanoparticle polymer composites for plasmonic sensing has attracted much attention. Because several fabrication methodologies for such nanocomposites have already been established, resulting in a substantial collection of plasmon-active sensing devices, it would be timely to review the progress made so far and discuss future research directions. Although the synthesis and applications of a variety of nanoparticle polymer composites have been described in general and at length in several earlier reviews, no review to date has been dedicated to noble metal nanoparticle polymer composites on solid substrates fabricated for plasmonic sensing. One of the greatest advantages of nanoparticle polymer composites on solid substrates is their convenient utilization in practical applications, as they can be readily produced on gold and silicon substrates, glass and even paper. This makes them more suitable than solution phase nanoparticle polymer composites for device integration, bringing them closer to commercialization and consumer use. To facilitate rapid technology transfers in the near future, an in-depth understanding of the subject matter as well as an update of the state-of-the-art is therefore necessary, prompting this review. This review begins by describing the assembly techniques used to obtain such nanoparticle polymer composites before discussing their applications in plasmonic sensing based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).