Fabrication of SERS active substrates for developing highly sensitive biosensor

Abstract

The high sensitive screening technique, Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) has been widely used for various detection purposes in the biological and pharmaceutical sectors recently due to its low detection limits which greatly enhanced the accuracy of the measurement. However, people still trying to improve and optimize the technique by increasing the enhancement factor (EF). The purpose of this project is to synthesize highly sensitive Graphene Oxide-Star Shape Gold Nanoparticles (GO-Austars) SERS substrates and observe the morphology and structure of them using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission microscope (TEM). Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS) and Raman spectroscopy were then used to investigate and monitor their characteristic and effectiveness. Lastly, detection and quantification of food contaminant, crystal violet testing was conducted to further monitoring the performance of GO-Austars SERS substrates.