Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Molecule Characterization: HIM Investigation into Sources of SERS Activity of Silver-Coated Butterfly Scales
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful technique for obtaining structural information of molecules in solution at low concentrations. While commercial SERS substrates are available, high costs prevent their wide-spread use in the medical field. One solution is to prepare requisite...
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doaj-9c75b8e5edd24aaf9b3ecb2cd4f17e812021-07-23T13:57:31ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912021-07-01111741174110.3390/nano11071741Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Molecule Characterization: HIM Investigation into Sources of SERS Activity of Silver-Coated Butterfly ScalesHiroyuki Takei0Kazuki Nagata1Natalie Frese2Armin Gölzhäuser3Takayuki Okamoto4Faculty of Life Sciences, Toyo University, Gunma 374-0193, JapanGraduate School of Life Sciences, Toyo University, Gunma 374-0193, JapanFaculty of Physics, Physics of Supramolecular Systems, University of Bielefeld, 33615 Bielefeld, GermanyFaculty of Physics, Physics of Supramolecular Systems, University of Bielefeld, 33615 Bielefeld, GermanyRIKEN, Saitama 351-0198, JapanSurface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful technique for obtaining structural information of molecules in solution at low concentrations. While commercial SERS substrates are available, high costs prevent their wide-spread use in the medical field. One solution is to prepare requisite noble metal nanostructures exploiting natural nanostructures. As an example of biomimetic approaches, butterfly wing scales with their intricate nanostructures have been found to exhibit exquisite SERS activity when coated with silver. Selecting appropriate scales from particular butterfly species and depositing silver of certain thicknesses leads to significant SERS activity. For morphological observations we used scanning electron microscopes as well as a helium ion microscope, highly suitable for morphological characterization of poorly conducting samples. In this paper, we describe a protocol for carrying out SERS measurements based on butterfly wing scales and demonstrate its LOD with a common Raman reporter, rhodamine 6 G. We also emphasize what special care is necessary in such measurements. We also try to shed light on what makes scales work as SERS substrates by carefully modifying the original nanostructures. Such a study allows us to either use scales directly as a raw material for SERS substrate or provides an insight as to what nanostructures need to be recreated for synthetic SERS substrates.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/7/1741surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS)helium ion microscopy (HIM)silver-coated butterfly scalecategorization protocol of scalesstructural modificationbiomimetics |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Hiroyuki Takei Kazuki Nagata Natalie Frese Armin Gölzhäuser Takayuki Okamoto |
spellingShingle |
Hiroyuki Takei Kazuki Nagata Natalie Frese Armin Gölzhäuser Takayuki Okamoto Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Molecule Characterization: HIM Investigation into Sources of SERS Activity of Silver-Coated Butterfly Scales Nanomaterials surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS) helium ion microscopy (HIM) silver-coated butterfly scale categorization protocol of scales structural modification biomimetics |
author_facet |
Hiroyuki Takei Kazuki Nagata Natalie Frese Armin Gölzhäuser Takayuki Okamoto |
author_sort |
Hiroyuki Takei |
title |
Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Molecule Characterization: HIM Investigation into Sources of SERS Activity of Silver-Coated Butterfly Scales |
title_short |
Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Molecule Characterization: HIM Investigation into Sources of SERS Activity of Silver-Coated Butterfly Scales |
title_full |
Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Molecule Characterization: HIM Investigation into Sources of SERS Activity of Silver-Coated Butterfly Scales |
title_fullStr |
Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Molecule Characterization: HIM Investigation into Sources of SERS Activity of Silver-Coated Butterfly Scales |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Molecule Characterization: HIM Investigation into Sources of SERS Activity of Silver-Coated Butterfly Scales |
title_sort |
surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy for molecule characterization: him investigation into sources of sers activity of silver-coated butterfly scales |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Nanomaterials |
issn |
2079-4991 |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful technique for obtaining structural information of molecules in solution at low concentrations. While commercial SERS substrates are available, high costs prevent their wide-spread use in the medical field. One solution is to prepare requisite noble metal nanostructures exploiting natural nanostructures. As an example of biomimetic approaches, butterfly wing scales with their intricate nanostructures have been found to exhibit exquisite SERS activity when coated with silver. Selecting appropriate scales from particular butterfly species and depositing silver of certain thicknesses leads to significant SERS activity. For morphological observations we used scanning electron microscopes as well as a helium ion microscope, highly suitable for morphological characterization of poorly conducting samples. In this paper, we describe a protocol for carrying out SERS measurements based on butterfly wing scales and demonstrate its LOD with a common Raman reporter, rhodamine 6 G. We also emphasize what special care is necessary in such measurements. We also try to shed light on what makes scales work as SERS substrates by carefully modifying the original nanostructures. Such a study allows us to either use scales directly as a raw material for SERS substrate or provides an insight as to what nanostructures need to be recreated for synthetic SERS substrates. |
topic |
surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS) helium ion microscopy (HIM) silver-coated butterfly scale categorization protocol of scales structural modification biomimetics |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/7/1741 |
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