Paper/GO/e-Au flexible SERS sensors for in situ detection of tricyclazole in orange juice and on cucumber skin at the sub-ppb level: machine learning-assisted data analysis.

Despite being an excellent surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active material, gold nanoparticles were difficult to be loaded onto the surface of filter paper to fabricate flexible SERS substrates. In this study, electrochemically synthesized gold nanoparticles (e-AuNPs) were deposited on graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets in solution by ultrasonication, resulting in the formation of a GO/Au hybrid material. Thanks to the support of GO, the hybrid material could adhere onto the surface of filter paper, which was immersed into a GO/Au solution for 24 h and dried naturally at room temperature. The paper-based materials were then employed as substrates for a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing platform to detect tricyclazole (TCZ), a widely used pesticide, resulting in better sensitivity compared to the use of paper/Au SERS sensors. With the most optimal GO content of 4%, paper/GO/Au SERS sensors could achieve a limit of detection of 1.32 × 10-10 M in standard solutions. Furthermore, the filter paper-based SERS sensors also exhibited significant advantages in sample collection in real samples. On one hand, the sensors were dipped into orange juice, allowing TCZ molecules in this real sample to be adsorbed onto their SERS active surface. On the other hand, they were pasted onto cucumber skin to collect the analytes. As a result, the paper/GO/Au SERS sensors could sense TCZ in orange juice and on cucumber skin at concentrations as low as 10-9 M (∼2 ppb). In addition, a machine learning model was designed and developed, allowing the sensing system to discriminate TCZ from nine other organic compounds and predict the presence of TCZ on cucumber skin at concentrations down to 10-9 M.

Spatial photoluminescence and lifetime mappings of quasi-2D perovskites coupled with a dielectric metasurface.

Light-matter interaction between quantum emitters and optical cavities plays a vital role in fundamental quantum photonics and the development of optoelectronics. Resonant metasurfaces are proven to be an efficient platform for tailoring the spontaneous emission (SE) of the emitters. In this work, we study the interplay between quasi-2D perovskites and dielectric TiO2 metasurfaces. The metasurface, functioning as an open cavity, enhances electric fields near its plane, thereby influencing the emissions of the perovskite. This is verified through angle-resolved photoluminescence (PL) studies. We also conducted reflectivity measurements and numerical simulations to validate the coupling between the quasi-2D perovskites and photonic modes. Notably, our work introduces a spatial mapping approach to study Purcell enhancement. Using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), we directly link the PL and lifetimes of the quasi-2D perovskites in spatial distribution when positioned on the metasurface. This correlation provides unprecedented insights into emitter distribution and emitter-resonator interactions. The methodology opens a new (to the best of our knowledge) approach for studies in quantum optics, optoelectronics, and medical imaging by enabling spatial mapping of both PL intensity and lifetime, differentiating between uncoupled quantum emitters and those coupled with different types of resonators.

Enhanced sensing performance of carbaryl pesticide by employing a MnO2/GO/e-Ag-based nanoplatform: role of graphene oxide as an adsorbing agent in the SERS analytical performance.

A functional ternary substrate was developed for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing systems. MnO2 nanosheets were synthesized by a simple and controllable hydrothermal method, followed by the integration of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. Subsequently, MnO2/GO nanostructures were decorated with plasmonic Ag nanoparticles (e-AgNPs). The MnO2/GO/e-Ag substrate could enhance the SERS sensing signal for organic chemicals without the assistance of chemical bonds between those analytes and the semiconductor within the ternary substrate, which have been proven to promote charge transfer and elevate the SERS enhancement in previous studies. Instead, GO nanosheets acted as a carpet also supporting the MnO2 nanosheets and e-AgNPs to form a porous structure, allowing the analytes to be well-adsorbed onto the ternary substrate, which improved the sensing performance of the SERS platform, compared to pure e-AgNPs, MnO2/e-Ag, and GO/e-Ag alone. The GO content in the nanocomposite was also considered to optimize the SERS substrate. With the most optimal GO content of 0.1 wt%, MnO2/GO/e-Ag-based SERS sensors could detect carbaryl, a pesticide, at concentrations as low as 1.11 × 10-8 M in standard solutions and 10-7 M in real tap water and cucumber extract.

Ultrasensitive detection of crystal violet using a molybdenum sulfide-silver nanostructure-based sensing platform: roles of the adsorbing semiconductor in SERS signal enhancement.

Crystal violet (CV) is an organic dye that is stabilized by the extensive resonance delocalization of electrons over three electron-donating amine groups. This prevents the molecule from being linked to a metal surface, and therefore, reduces the sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors for this toxic dye. In this work, we improved the sensing performance of a silver-based SERS sensor for CV detection by modifying the active substrate. Molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) nanosheets were employed as a scaffold for anchoring electrochemically synthesized silver nanoparticles (e-AgNPs) through a single step of ultrasonication, leading to the formation of MoS2/Ag nanocomposites. As an excellent adsorbent, MoS2 promoted the adsorption of CV onto the surface of the substrate, allowing more CV molecules to be able to experience the SERS effect originating from the e-AgNPs. Hence, the SERS signal of CV was significantly enhanced. In addition, the effects of the MoS2 content of the nanocomposites on their SERS performance were also taken into account. Using MoS2/Ag with the most optimal MoS2 content of 10%, the SERS sensor exhibited the best enhancement of the SERS signal of CV with an impressive detection limit of 1.17 × 10-11 M in standard water and 10-9 M in tap water thanks to an enhancement factor of 2.9 × 106, which was 11.2 times higher than that using pure e-AgNPs.

An insight of light-enhanced electrochemical kinetic behaviors and interfacial charge transfer of CuInS2/MoS2-based sensing nanoplatform for ultra-sensitive detection of chloramphenicol.

Owing to the effective combination between MoS2 sheets with CuInS2 nanoparticles (NPs), a direct Z-scheme heterojunction was successfully constructed and proved as a promising structure to modify the working electrode surface with the aim of enhancing overall sensing performance towards CAP detection. Herein, MoS2 was employed as a high mobility carrier transport channel with a strong photo-response, large specific surface area, and high in-plane electron mobility, while CuInS2 acted as an efficient light absorber. This not only offered a stable nanocomposite structure but also created impressive synergistic effects of high electron conductivity, large surface area, highlight exposure interface, as well as favorable electron transfer process. Moreover, the possible mechanism and hypothesis of the transfer pathway of photo-induced electron-hole pairs on the CuInS2-MoS2/SPE as well as their impacts on the redox reaction of K3/K4 probes and CAP were proposed and investigated in detail via a series of calculated kinetic parameters, demonstrating the high practical applicability of light-assisted electrodes. Indeed, the detection concentration range of the proposed electrode was widened from 0.1 to 50 µM, compared with that of 1-50 µM without irradiation. Also, the LOD and sensitivity values were calculated to be approximately 0.06 µM and 0.4623 µA µM-1, which is better than that of 0.3 µM and 0.095 µA µM-1 without irradiation.

A manganese dioxide-silver nanostructure-based SERS nanoplatform for ultrasensitive tricyclazole detection in rice samples: effects of semiconductor morphology on charge transfer efficiency and SERS analytical performance.

Taking advantage of metal-semiconductor junctions, functional nanocomposites have been designed and developed as active substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing systems. In this work, we prepared three types of nanocomposites based on manganese oxide (MnO2) nanostructures and electrochemically synthesized silver nanoparticles (e-AgNPs), which differed according to the morphologies of MnO2. The SERS performance of MnO2 nanosheet/e-Ag (MnO2-s/e-Ag), MnO2 nanorod/e-Ag (MnO2-r/e-Ag), and MnO2 nanowire/e-Ag (MnO2-w/e-Ag) was then evaluated using tricyclazole (TCZ), a commonly used pesticide, as an analyte. Compared to the others, MnO2-s/e-Ag exhibited the most remarkable SERS enhancement. Thanks to its large surface area and ability to accept/donate the electrons of the semiconductor, MnO2-s acted as a bridge to improve the charge transfer efficiency from e-Ag to TCZ. In addition, the MnO2 content of the nanocomposites was also considered to optimize the SERS sensing performance. With the optimal MnO2 content of 25 wt%, MnO2-s/e-Ag could achieve the best SERS performance, allowing the detection of TCZ at concentrations down to 6 × 10-12 M in standard solutions and 10-11 M in real rice samples.

Flexible Magnetic Metasurface with Defect Cavity for Wireless Power Transfer System.

In this paper, we present a flexible magnetic metamaterial structure for enhancing the efficiency of wireless power transfer (WPT) systems operating at 13.56 MHz. The metasurface between transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) coils of the WPT system is constructed of a 3 × 5 metamaterial unit cell array with a total size of 150 × 300 mm2. Most metamaterial structures integrated into WPT systems are in planar configurations with a rigid substrate, which limits practical applications. The proposed metasurface is fabricated on an FR-4 substrate with a thin thickness of 0.2 mm; therefore, it can be bent with radii greater than 80 mm. A defect cavity is formed in the non-homogeneous metasurface by controlling the resonant frequency of the unit cell with an external capacitor. Simulation and measurement results show that the efficiency of the WPT system is significantly enhanced with metasurfaces. The performance of the WPT system can also be optimized with suitable bend profiles of metasurfaces. This proposed flexible metasurface could be widely applied to WPT systems, especially asymmetric, bendable, or wearable WPT systems.

Rotary bi-layer ring-shaped metamaterials for reconfiguration absorbers: publisher's note.

This publisher's note corrects errors in Appl. Opt.61, 9078 (2022)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.471949.

Rotary bi-layer ring-shaped metamaterials for reconfiguration absorbers.

A reconfigurable metamaterial absorber (MA) in the microwave region is numerically and experimentally demonstrated based on a multi-layered metamaterial. The proposed structure can be mechanically switched between two different configurations to obtain designated absorption behaviors. By rotating the upper ring layer by multiples of 90 deg, two separated absorption modes of the MA are created. The first configuration acts as a single-band absorber, while the second configuration performs multi-band perfect absorption. In addition, the proposed structure can be easily switched into two different configurations to obtain a designated absorption feature. Our work is expected to provide an effective approach to obtaining reconfigurable MAs, which are useful for various applications.

Optimal frequency for magnetic resonant wireless power transfer in conducting medium.

In this article, we investigated the efficiency of a magnetic resonant wireless power transfer (MR-WPT) in conducting medium and found out an optimal frequency for designing the system. In conducting environment, the eddy current loss is generated by the high-frequency alternating currents in the coils. It is manifested by increased radiation resistance of resonator coil leads to decrease the quality factor (Q-factor), which reduces the wireless power transfer (WPT) efficiency in conducting medium. The Q-factor of the resonator coil strongly depending on the conductivity, frequency, and thickness of conducting block. Two MR-WPT systems operating at 10.0 MHz and 20.0 MHz are implemented to study the effect of conducting medium on efficiency. The achieved results indicated that the 20.0 MHz system has higher efficiency at a conductivity smaller than 6.0 S/m. However, at the larger conductivity, the 10.0 MHz system is more efficient. The results provide a method to determine the optimal frequency of a WPT system operating in the conducting medium with various conductivities and thickness blocks. This method can be used to design MR-WPT systems in numerous situations, such as autonomous underwater vehicles and medical implants.

Transient transmission of THz metamaterial antennas by impact ionization in a silicon substrate.

The picosecond dynamics of excited charge carriers in the silicon substrate of THz metamaterial antennas was studied at different wavelengths. Time-resolved THz pump-THz probe spectroscopy was performed with light from a tunable free electron laser in the 9.3-16.7 THz frequency range using fluences of 2-12 J/m2. Depending on the excitation wavelength with respect to the resonance center, transient transmission increase, decrease, or a combination of both was observed. The transient transmission changes can be explained by local electric field enhancement, which induces impact ionization in the silicon substrate, increasing the local number of charge carriers by several orders of magnitude, and their subsequent diffusion and recombination. The studied metamaterials can be integrated with common semiconductor devices and can potentially be used in sensing applications and THz energy harvesting.

Ultrasensitive biosensors based on waveguide-coupled long-range surface plasmon resonance (WC-LRSPR) for enhanced fluorescence spectroscopy.

We investigated the coupling phenomenon between plasmonic resonance and waveguide modes through theoretical and experimental parametric analyses on the bimetallic waveguide-coupled long-range surface plasmon resonance (Bi-WCLRSPR) structure. The calculation results indicated that the multi-plasmonic coupling gives rise to the enhanced depth-to-width ratio of the reflection dip compared to that of LRSPR excited using a single set of Ag and Teflon. The optimized thickness of Ag(40 nm)/Teflon(700 nm)/Ag(5 nm)/Au(5 nm) was obtained and generated the highest plasmon intensity enhancement, which was 2.38 folds in comparison to the conventional bimetallic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) configuration (Ag/Au). 17ß-Estradiol was used in the fluorescence enhancement experiment by the reflection geometry-based system, wherein the excitation light source was on the side of a WC-LRSPR chip opposite to that of the light detection unit. The phenomenon of surface plasmon-couple emission (SPCE) depends on the number of 17ß-estradiol molecule promoters from female sex steroid hormones, which demonstrated a limit of detection (LOD) of 2 pg mL-1 and 1.47-fold fluorescence improvement as compared to the non-coated material on the surface of pristine glass. This enhanced WC-LRSPR can readily find application in fluorescence escalation needed in cases where a weak fluorescence signal is predicted, such as the small volume of liquid containing fluorescent dyes in biological diagnosis.

A hybrid design of Ag-decorated ZnO on layered nanomaterials (MgAC) with photocatalytic and antibacterial dual-functional abilities.

In this work, Ag@ZnO and Ag@ZnO/MgAC photocatalysts were synthesized using a simple two-step electrochemical method by the addition of magnesium aminoclay (MgAC) as a great stabilizer and a Lewis base, which could donate electrons for reduction of Ag+ and Zn2+ ions, facilitating uniform formation as well as effective inhibition of aggregation of Ag@ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) on the MgAC matrix. Ag@ZnO and Ag@ZnO/MgAC were investigated for photocatalytic degradation of MB and their antibacterial efficiencies. Ag@ZnO/MgAC showed excellent photocatalytic MB degradation with a performance of 98.56% after 80 min of visible-light irradiation and good antibacterial activity against Salmonella (Sal) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacterial strains, providing promising high application potential. Herein, different from the bare ZnO NPs, for Ag@ZnO/MgAC nanocomposites, Ag@ZnO NPs functioned as an effective photocatalyst under visible light illumination, in which, incorporated Ag atoms in the ZnO crystal structure caused the increase in a larger number of lattice defect sites. Benefiting from the strong surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of Ag and energy band matching between ZnO and Ag, the visible light absorption capacity and the separation of the photogenerated charge carriers were promoted. Therefore, the MB degradation efficiency of Ag@ZnO/MgAC was considerably accelerated in the presence of produced radicals from visible light illumination.

Electrodeposited nickel-graphene nanocomposite coating: effect of graphene nanoplatelet size on its microstructure and hardness.

In this study, the effect of graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) size on the microstructure and hardness of the electrodeposited nickel-graphene nanocomposite coatings were investigated. GNPs with different sizes were prepared by using a high energy ball milling technique. The experimental result revealed the high energy ball milling technique could reduce the size, increase the surface area, and improve the dispersion ability of GNPs. The microstructure, hardness, and components of the nanocomposite coatings were greatly affected by GNP sizes. The highest microhardness was measured to be 273 HV for the nanocomposite coatings containing 5 h-milled GNPs, which is increased up to ∼47% compared to pristine Ni coating. The enhancement in the hardness is attributed to the uniform dispersion of the small GNP sizes inside the Ni matrix and the Ni grain size reduction when using milled GNPs.

Ultra-subwavelength thickness for dual/triple-band metamaterial absorber at very low frequency.

An integrated model utilizing external parasitic capacitors for a dual-band metamaterial perfect absorber (DMPA) is proposed and demonstrated in the UHF radio band. By adjusting the lumped capacitors on a simple meta-surface, the thickness of absorber is reduced to be only 1/378 and 1/320 with respect to the operating wavelength at 305 and 360.5 MHz, respectively. The simulations and the experiments confirm that the DMPA can maintain an absorption over 91% in a wide range of incident angle (up to 55°) and independent of the polarization of incident radiation. Additionally, we examine the integrated model for smaller dual-band absorber and absorption performance at higher frequencies (LTE band). Finally, we consolidate our approach by fabricating an ultrathin triple-band perfect absorber miniaturized to be only 1/591 of the longest operating wavelength. Our work is expected to contribute to the actualization of metamaterial-based devices working at radio frequency.

Conductive polymer for ultra-broadband, wide-angle, and polarization-insensitive metamaterial perfect absorber.

We numerically and experimentally investigate a broadband, polarization-independent and wide-incident-angle metamaterial perfect absorber (MPA) based on conductive polymer. By optimizing the electrical conductivity of the polymer, a 16.7 GHz broadband MPA is observed with the absorptivity greater than 80% for both transverse magnetic and electric polarization. The measurement results performed in the range 8-18 GHz show a diametrical concatenation with simulation results and theoretical analysis. The absorption mechanism is explained by demonstrating the influence of polymer conductivity on the dissipated power, the equivalent impedance, and the induced electric field. Our work may contribute to further studies on broadband MPA using for various applications.

Polarization-independent, wide-incident-angle and dual-band perfect absorption, based on near-field coupling in a symmetric metamaterial.

We numerically and experimentally investigated a dual-band metamaterial perfect absorber (MPA), utilizing the near-field coupling of double split-ring resonators (DSRRs). Owing to the near-field coupling between resonators, two arms in each DSRR resonate in different phases, leading to a dual-band perfect absorption. The proposed MPA also exhibits polarization-insensitive behavior and maintains the high absorption above 90% up to a wide range of incident angle more than 45°. Finally, to further consolidate our approach, a multi-band absorption is also studied by exploiting the near-field coupling among a larger number of DSRRs. Our work is expected to be applied to future broadband devices using MPA.

Miniaturization for ultrathin metamaterial perfect absorber in the VHF band.

An efficient resolution for ultrathin metamaterial perfect absorber (MPA) is proposed and demonstrated in the VHF radio band (30-300 MHz). By adjusting the lumped capacitors and the through vertical interconnects, the absorber is miniaturized to be only λ/816 and λ/84 for its thickness and periodicity with respect to the operating wavelength (at 102 MHz), respectively. The detailed simulation and calculation show that the MPA can maintain an absorption rate over 90% in a certain range of incident angle and with a wide variation of capacitance. Additionally, we utilized the advantages of the initial single-band structure to realize a nearly perfect dual-band absorber in the same range. The results were confirmed by both simulation and experiment at oblique incidence angles up to 50°. Our work is expected to contribute to the actualization of future metamaterial-based devices working at radio frequency.