PDMS-Au/Ag Nanocomposite Films as Highly Sensitive SERS Substrates

Abstract

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)–gold/silver nanoparticle composite films were synthetized in situ by using a simple method, which is based on the reduction of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) or silver nitrate solution (AgNO3) by the PDMS membrane. A method to monitor the development of the plasmonic absorbance peak in situ (during the synthesis of the nanoparticles) is introduced in order to provide a convenient way to investigate the effect of the technological parameters on the position of the resulting peak. The resulting composite films were tested as SERS substrates at two excitation wavelengths (488 nm, 785 nm) and the preliminary results indicate that they are promising candidates for this application, with high sensitivities accompanied by cheap fabrication costs.

Photothermally-Heated Superparamagnetic Polymeric Nanocomposite Implants for Interstitial Thermotherapy

“…PDMS, a silicone-based elastomer, is a popular candidate polymer that has been widely used to prepare different nanocomposites for several applications in biomedical engineering due to the possession of an attractive combination of properties such as inertness, bicompatibility, and ease of fabrication [ 25 ]. Bonyár and co-workers [ 26 ] demonstrated the use of Au/Ag poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films to enhance the sensitivity of substrates used for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy based biosensing applications. Our group used a combination of experiments and models to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel magnetically heated polymer nanocomposite applicator concept for heating of hepatic tumors [ 27 ].…”

Plasmonic Nanocomposite Implants for Interstitial Thermotherapy: Experimental and Computational Analysis

“…The probe is essentially a cannula with a distal heat generating magnetic nanocomposite tip and a proximal insulated shaft. Bonyár and co-workers [ 25 ] demonstrated the use Au/Ag Poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films to enhance the sensitivity of substrates that are used for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy based biosensing applications.…”