A Versatile Synthetic Pathway for Producing Mesostructured Plasmonic Nanostructures.

Highly branched gold (Au) nanostructures with sharp tips are considered excellent substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based sensing technologies. Here, a simple synthetic route for producing Au or Au-Ag bimetallic mesostructures with multiple sharpened tips in the presence of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) is presented. The morphologies of these mesostructured plasmonic nanoparticles (MSPNs) can be controlled by adjusting the concentration of CQDs, reaction temperatures, and seed particles. The optimal molar ratio for [HAuCl4 ]/[CQDs] is found to be ≈25. At this molar ratio, the diameters of MSPNs can be tuned from 80 to 200 nm by changing the reaction temperature from 25 to 80 °C. In addition, it is found that hierarchical MSPNs consisting of multiple Au nanocrystals can be formed over the entire seed particle surface. Finally, the SERS activity of these MSPNs is examined through the detection of rhodamine 6G and methylene blue. Of the different mesostructures, the bimetallic MSPNs have the highest sensitivity with the ability to detect 10-7  m of rhodamine 6G and 10-6  m of methylene blue. The properties of these MSPN particles, made using a novel synthetic process, make them excellent candidates for SERS-based chemical sensing applications.

Investigating the effect of Ag nanocube polydispersity on gap-mode SERS enhancement factors.

High Raman enhancement factors (EFs) have been observed for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates fabricated from colloidal metal nanoparticles. Electrodynamic models of single nanoparticles often do not accurately predict the Raman EFs measured experimentally for such colloidal substrates, which often consist of nanoparticles that exhibit heterogeneity in both size and shape. Here, we investigate the size and shape dispersity of colloidal Ag nanocube samples and their effect on Raman EF. We generate an analytical model that incorporates nanocube size dispersion and calculates the Raman EF associated with an ensemble of differently sized nanocubes. For nanocubes that are ∼70-80 nm in size, this model is sufficient to correct the inaccuracies for electrodynamic simulations of a single nanocube model. For nanocubes >90 nm, size dispersity alone fails to account for the high EFs observed when these substrates are excited off-resonance. We hypothesize that shape defects may play a significant role in optical response at these larger sizes and discuss how these factors can play a role in our analytical model.

Multispectral Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (msLSPR) Reveals and Overcomes Spectral and Sensing Heterogeneities of Single Gold Nanoparticles.

Metal nanoparticles can be sensitive molecular sensors due to enhanced absorption and scattering of light near a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). Variations in both intrinsic properties such as the geometry and extrinsic properties such as the environment can cause heterogeneity in nanoparticle LSPR and impact the overall sensing responses. To date, however, few studies have examined LSPR and sensing heterogeneities, due to technical challenges in obtaining the full LSPR spectra of individual nanoparticles in dynamic assays. Here, we report multispectral LSPR (msLSPR), a wide-field imaging technique for real-time spectral monitoring of light scattering from individual nanoparticles across the whole field of view (FOV) at ∼0.5 nm spectral and ∼100 ms temporal resolutions. Using msLSPR, we studied the spectral and sensing properties of gold nanoparticles commonly used in LSPR assays, including spheres, rods, and bipyramids. Complemented with electron microscopy imaging, msLSPR analysis revealed that all classes of gold nanoparticles exhibited variations in LSPR peak wavelengths that largely paralleled variations in morphology. Compared with the rods and spheres, gold nanobipyramids exhibited both more uniform and stronger sensing responses as long as the bipyramids are structurally intact. Simulations incorporating the experimental LSPR properties demonstrate the negative impact of spectral heterogeneity on the overall performance of conventional, intensity-based LSPR assays and the ability of msLSPR in overcoming both particle heterogeneity and measurement noise. These results highlight the importance of spectral heterogeneity in LSPR-based sensors and the potential advantage of performing LSPR assays in the spectral domain.

Colloidal Nanoantennas for Hyperspectral Chemical Mapping.

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy enables access to chemical information with nanoscale spatial resolution and single-molecule sensitivities by utilizing optical probes that are capable of confining light to subwavelength dimensions. Because the probes themselves possess nanoscale features, they are notoriously difficult to fabricate, and more critically, can result in poor reproducibility. Here, we demonstrate high-performance, predictable, and readily tunable nanospectroscopy probes that are fabricated by self-assembly. Shaped metal nanoparticles are organized into dense layers and deposited onto scanning probe tips. When coupled to a metal surface, these probes behave like nanoantenna by supporting a strong optical resonance, producing dramatic Raman field enhancements in the range of 10(8)-10(9) with sub-50 nm spatial resolution. In contrast to other nanospectroscopy probes, our colloidal probes can be fabricated in a scalable fashion with a batch-to-batch reproducibility of ∼80% and serve as an important demonstration of bottom-up engineering.