SERS sensor for small-molecule detection in biological diagnosis

Description

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a promising sensing tool to trace biological and chemical samples at extremely low limits of detection (LODs) with minimal sample pretreatment. By recognising small-molecule metabolites, SERS can depict the status of a biological system and monitor disease conditions. With single-molecular sensitivity, molecular fingerprint, and water compatibility, SERS provides valuable information about chemical structures and analyte compositions, especially desirable in biological diagnosis. Design and fabrication of effective SERS substrates can be one of the major research priorities to provide small-molecule detection with high sensitivity, selectivity, and reproducibility. In this work, a molybdenum oxide integrated metal-organic framework (MoO3@MOF) was designed as a semiconductor SERS-active substrate via in situ Mo-MOF growth on MoO3. The results demonstrated that the combination of molybdenum oxide and Mo-MOF coating could increase SERS activity and achieve a lower limit of detection for Rhodamine 6G by roughly a factor of ten, in comparison to MoO3 and Mo-MOF alone. The synthesised MoO3@MOF exhibited notable SERS sensitivity and high reproducibility to the dye molecule Rhodamine 6G, with an enhancement factor of 5.52 × 104 and a detection limit of 6.18 × 10-9 M. Furthermore, the optimised substrate accomplished the detection for dopamine as a biomarker associated with Parkinson's disease and various neurological disorders, achieving an EF of 138.05 and a LOD of approximately 1 × 10-4 M.

Period	1 Sept 2022 → 15 Dec 2023
Examination held at	Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Degree of Recognition	International