Issue 33, 2015

Polyethylenimine-interlayered silver-shell magnetic-core microspheres as multifunctional SERS substrates

Abstract

The fabrication of an ideal noble metal modified magnetic microsphere as a high performance SERS substrate that possesses good dispersibility, strong magnetic responsiveness, and high sensitivity is still a challenge. Herein, we report a novel route for fabricating Ag-coated magnetic core–shell microspheres (Fe3O4@PEI@Ag) with most of the desired advantages by using polyethyleneimine (PEI) as an interlayer. The size and coverage level of the Ag-NPs shell on Fe3O4@PEI@Ag microspheres were easily controlled by varying the amount of AgNO3. Meanwhile, the magnetic core endowed the Fe3O4@PEI@Ag microspheres with superior magnetic nature, which enabled convenient separation and further enhanced Raman signals due to enrichment of targeted analytes and abundant interparticle hotspots created by magnetism-induced aggregation. Considering these features, Fe3O4@PEI@Ag is expected to be a versatile SERS substrate, which was verified by the detection of adsorbed PATP molecules and human IgG with a detection limit as low as 10−11 M and 10−14 g mL−1, respectively. Therefore, the novel Fe3O4@PEI@Ag microsphere has an enormous potential for practical SERS detection applications, especially in the field of quantitative detection of target proteins.

Graphical abstract: Polyethylenimine-interlayered silver-shell magnetic-core microspheres as multifunctional SERS substrates

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Jun 2015
Accepted
21 Jul 2015
First published
22 Jul 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015,3, 8684-8693

Author version available

Polyethylenimine-interlayered silver-shell magnetic-core microspheres as multifunctional SERS substrates

C. Wang, J. Xu, J. Wang, Z. Rong, P. Li, R. Xiao and S. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015, 3, 8684 DOI: 10.1039/C5TC01839K

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