(530e) In-Situ Synthesis of 3-D Nanostructures Within a Microfluidic Device and Their Applications As SERS Substrates

In-situ
synthesis of 3-D nanostructures within a microfluidic device and their
applications as SERS Substrates

 Joseph Parisi, Liang Su, Yixin Liu, Yu
Lei

Department of Chemical, Materials,
& Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, 191 Auditorium Road,
Unit 3222, Storrs, Connecticut 06269

            Microfluidic devices have
been used in many different applications and have continued to display their
ability to shrink large scale experiments into small scale devices.  In this
report, a microfluidic device with integrated novel
silver nanoparticle (Ag NPs) decorated nanowall structures was
fabricated via in-situ electrodeposition of Cu-core/C-sheath nanowalls,
followed by a facile in-channel silver galvanic replacement reaction method at
room temperature. These nanostructures are fabricated in a
fraction of the time compared to similar CVD and hydrothermal structures and
require much less reagents and complicated fabrication steps.  The
integrated microfluidic devices with Ag NPs decorated nanowalls,
serving as a highly active Raman substrate, was then applied for in-channel
surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing. Single molecule detection is
obtained using model compounds, and the detection of water contaminants is also
presented. Because preparation of the active SERS substrate and subsequent
finger-print SERS detection is completed within a microfluidic device, the
developed method opens a new venue to integrate active SERS substrate within
microfluidic channels and provides an excellent microfluidic SERS sensor
platform for ultrasensitive and selective chemical and biological sensing.