Silver nanostructures applicable as core materials of SERS-based molecular sensors and barcodes

Abstract

We have developed a simple electroless plating method used to prepare silver-deposited silica or magnetic beads and also succeeded in coating them further with silica layers, without affecting the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectral features of marker molecules assembled on the silver nanostructures. The Ag-deposited dye-embedded silica beads can then be used as a dual-tag sensor, operating via both fluorescence and SERS, for immunoassays and the Ag-deposited Fe3O4-embedded silica beads can be used as Raman barcode materials, possessing also strong enough magnetic moments. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.