Ultrafast self-assembly of silver nanostructures on carbon-coated copper grids for surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of trace melamine.

Structurally well-defined assemblies of silver nanoparticles, including the dendritic nano-flowers (NFs), planar nano-spheres (NSs) and nano-dendrites (NDs) were obtained by a surfactant-free and ultrafast (≈15min) self-assembly process on as-purchased carbon-coated copper TEM grids. The silver nano-assemblies, especially the NFs modified TEM grids, when serving as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates for detecting melamine molecules, demonstrated a long-lived limit of detection (LOD) of as low as 10-11M, suggesting the potential of these silver-assemblies modified carbon-coated copper grids as novel potable and cost-effective SERS substrates for trace detection toward various food contaminants like melamine.

[1]  Qiangbin Wang,et al.  Spontaneous self-assembly of silver nanoparticles into lamellar structured silver nanoleaves. , 2013, ACS nano.

[2]  Hong Wei,et al.  Acid-directed synthesis of SERS-active hierarchical assemblies of silver nanostructures , 2011 .

[3]  Ming Fang,et al.  Nanomaterials in pollution trace detection and environmental improvement , 2010 .

[4]  Ruiqin Q. Zhang,et al.  Photo and pH stable, highly-luminescent silicon nanospheres and their bioconjugates for immunofluorescent cell imaging. , 2009, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[5]  Ling Chen,et al.  The structure-controlling solventless synthesis and optical properties of uniform Cu(2)S nanodisks. , 2008, Chemistry.

[6]  Gang Chen,et al.  Facile solvothermal synthesis and growth mechanism of flower-like PbTe dendrites assisted by cyclodextrin , 2012 .

[7]  Yunfeng Lu,et al.  Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly: Nanostructures Made Easy** , 1999 .

[8]  Wei-Ran Huang,et al.  Ordering Ag nanowire arrays by a glass capillary: A portable, reusable and durable SERS substrate , 2012, Scientific Reports.

[9]  C. Fan,et al.  Ultrastable, highly fluorescent, and water-dispersed silicon-based nanospheres as cellular probes. , 2009, Angewandte Chemie.

[10]  S. Vuković,et al.  Enhanced Raman scattering in a flowing plasma. , 1989, Optics letters.

[11]  Q. Cao,et al.  Tailoring Au-Ag-S composite microstructures in one-pot for both SERS detection and photocatalytic degradation of plasticizers DEHA and DEHP. , 2014, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[12]  R. Williams,et al.  Melamine sensing in milk products by using surface enhanced Raman scattering. , 2012, Analytical chemistry.

[13]  S. Nie,et al.  Single-molecule and single-nanoparticle SERS: from fundamental mechanisms to biomedical applications. , 2008, Chemical Society reviews.

[14]  Zheng Guo,et al.  SERS detection of explosive agent by macrocyclic compound functionalized triangular gold nanoprisms , 2011 .

[15]  N. Voelcker,et al.  Templated silver nanocube arrays for single-molecule SERS detection , 2013 .

[16]  Alexei A Kornyshev,et al.  Self-assembled nanoparticle arrays for multiphase trace analyte detection. , 2013, Nature materials.

[17]  K. Furuya,et al.  Fabrication and electron holography characterization of FePt alloy nanorods , 2005 .

[18]  Qingli Huang,et al.  Synthesis of 3D hierarchical Ag microspheres assembled with dendritic morphology , 2013 .

[19]  S. Pennycook,et al.  Single-Molecule Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering: Can STEM/EELS Image Electromagnetic Hot Spots? , 2012, The journal of physical chemistry letters.

[20]  Hwan Chul Jeon,et al.  Shape control of Ag nanostructures for practical SERS substrates. , 2013, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[21]  S. Qu,et al.  Quantitative surface enhanced Raman scattering detection based on the "sandwich" structure substrate. , 2011, Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy.

[22]  Hongxing Xu,et al.  Surface-enhanced Raman scattering and fluorescence near metal nanoparticles , 2005 .

[23]  Zhiyong Li,et al.  Oriented assembly of polyhedral plasmonic nanoparticle clusters , 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[24]  Q. Cao,et al.  Porous Au-Ag Alloy Particles Inlaid AgCl Membranes As Versatile Plasmonic Catalytic Interfaces with Simultaneous, in Situ SERS Monitoring. , 2015, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[25]  Q. Cao,et al.  Facile and rapid growth of Ag2S microrod arrays as efficient substrates for both SERS detection and photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes. , 2014, Chemical communications.

[26]  V. Chiș,et al.  FTIR, FT-Raman, SERS and DFT study on melamine , 2012 .

[27]  Xiaofei Yang,et al.  Controllable synthesis, characterization and growth mechanism of three-dimensional hierarchical PbWO4 microstructures , 2011 .

[28]  Shuitong Lee,et al.  An ultrasensitive method: surface-enhanced Raman scattering of Ag nanoparticles from beta-silver vanadate and copper. , 2008, Chemical communications.

[29]  Yiping Zhao,et al.  Qualitative and Quantitative Determination of Melamine by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Using Silver Nanorod Array Substrates , 2010, Applied spectroscopy.

[30]  Wei Zhu,et al.  Melamine induces sperm DNA damage and abnormality, but not genetic toxicity. , 2011, Regulatory toxicology and pharmacology : RTP.