Saliva analysis using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy technique

We report a post-growth microwave heating implementation to improve on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance of a metal-polymer substrate. This technique generates SERS-active nanostructures on the gold film deposited on hierarchical polystyrene (PS) beads. A significant improvement in SERS signals of bioanalyte (saliva) is achieved, demonstrating its potential to enhance SERS activities in metal-polymer substrates for biomedical applications.