TiO2 nanofibrous interface development for Raman detection of environmental pollutants

Abstract

Sensor development has been reliant on planar Au and Ag nanoparticle research. The current findings explored a unique 3-D network of crystalline TiO2 nanoparticles linked as nanofibers. In addition to the favorability of using TiO2 for chemical and bio-molecular sensing, the nanofiber network provides molecular diffusion control and an increased confocal volume signal. Controlled femtosecond laser synthesis is also demonstrated that directly impacts surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy detection of two common environmentally harmful chemicals: bisphenol A and diclofenac sodium salt. These findings assert that 3-D nanofibrous network porosity optimization is crucial for Raman monitoring of drinking water.

Programmable SERS active substrates for chemical and biosensing applications using amorphous/crystalline hybrid silicon nanomaterial

“…SERS enhancement has been observed in ZnO 32 , ZnS 33 , CdS 34 and CuO 35 , each in colloidal suspension. Competitive EF values, on the order of 10 6 have also been observed in three dimensional TiO 2 nanostructures 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 . These semiconductor materials and to a greater extent silicon, are more attractive as SERS materials due to the breadth of controllability over material properties (including band gap, dopants, physical morphology, stoichiometry, phase crystallinity, nanostructure size distributions etc.…”

Improved SERS Sensitivity on Plasmon-Free TiO2 Photonic Microarray by Enhancing Light-Matter Coupling

“…Photocatalytic self-cleaning SERS substrates have recently been developed by combining plasmonic metal with semiconductor such as TiO 2 − and ZnO, , which makes SERS substrate recyclable. Actually, semiconductors themselves have proven to be SERS-active. − However, the development of semiconductor SERS substrate is much underdeveloped compared with metal substrate due to fatal defect of low sensitivity. In spite of this, semiconductor substrates still have drawn considerable attention due to advantages on capability of monitoring and understanding the adsorption behavior of molecules on semiconductor surface, and interference-free detection of metal-catalytically active reaction process.…”

TiO2 Thickness-Dependent Charge Transfer in an Ordered Ag/TiO2/Ni Nanopillar Arrays Based on Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

“…Metal oxide semiconductors (TiO 2 , ZnO and Cu 2 O) are widely used as SERS substrate materials owing to their excellent chemical stability, good biocompatibility and selectivity [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Excitingly, a few semiconductors were found to exhibit high SERS enhancement comparable to metals, which has attracted extensive attention from researchers on CT mechanisms [ 12 , 15 ].…”