Application of a 2D Molybdenum Telluride in SERS Detection of Biorelevant Molecules

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides have become promising candidates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), but currently very few examples of detection of relevant molecules are available. Herein, we show the detection of the lipophilic disease marker β-sitosterol on fewlayered MoTe 2 films. The chemical vapor deposition (CVD)grown films are capable of nanomolar detection, exceeding the performance of alternative noble-metal surfaces. We confirm that the enhancement occurs through the chemical enhancement (CE) mechanism via formation of a surface−analyte complex, which leads to an enhancement factor of ≈10 4 , as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), UV−vis, and cyclic voltammetry (CV) analyses and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Low values of signal deviation over a seven-layered MoTe 2 film confirms the homogeneity and reproducibility of the results in comparison to noble-metal substrate analogues. Furthermore, β-sitosterol detection within cell culture media, a minimal loss of signal over 50 days, and the opportunity for sensor regeneration suggest that MoTe 2 can become a promising new SERS platform for biosensing.

Defect engineering in semiconductor-based SERS

“… 40 Biochemical sensing has also seen advances in recent years, with the range of detected bioactive species expanding rapidly, from biorelevant small molecules such as β-sitosterol and bilirubin to larger structures such as DNA. 110–112 Cancerous cells and biomarkers related to cancer are now detectable using a variety of semiconductor materials. VEGF, a biomarker for brain tumor, was detected using aptamer-functionalized WO 3 .…”

Defective cuprous oxide as a selective surface‐enhanced Raman scattering sensor of dye adulteration in Chinese herbal medicines

“…In fact, SERS approaches based on either plasmon or metalfree approach have already been employed as analytical protocols for the dye detection recently, where the applications in practical system have usually been emphasized. [40][41][42][43][44] In comparison with the documented techniques for dye detection, our approach with defective cuprous oxide substrate shows comparable sensitivity and is strikingly featured by the detection selectivity together with reusability (Figure S11).…”

Can DFT Calculations Provide Useful Information for SERS Applications?

“…The DFT approach is increasingly used for SERS spectroscopy by several research groups, as demonstrated by the most recent studies [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ] in which close links between DFT calculations and SERS applications are shown. Among these studies, the following studies devoted to applications in sensors, especially for environmental protection, and to applications in biomedicine, are worthy of particular attention.…”