Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gold nanorods coated by molecularly imprinted polymer for sensitive and specific SERS detection of dyes

  • Original Contribution
  • Published:
Colloid and Polymer Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an advanced analysis technique, the challenge of low specificity in real sample analysis remains. In this study, we synthesized a hybrid structure based on gold nanorods (AuNRs) coated with a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as a SERS substrate. While the AuNRs strongly enhance the Raman signal of the analyte, the MIP layer allows specific trapping of analyte molecules close to the gold surface. A very thin film of polydopamine with exclusive cavities of rhodamine B enabled ultrasensitive detection of rhodamine B with a 120-fold increase compared to non-imprinted sample. The selectivity of our AuNR@MIP substrate for the detection of rhodamine B in a mixture of different dyes was also clearly improved. Fortunately, the AuNR@MIP substrate exhibited attractive accuracy and sensitivity toward rhodamine B in spiked orange juice samples. This report demonstrates a promising hybrid structure to improve SERS-based sensing of real samples.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of data and material

The data used to support the findings of this study are included in the article.

References

  1. Hakami AAH, Wabaidur SM, Ali Khan M, Abdullah Alothman Z, Rafatullah M, Siddiqui MR (2020) Development of ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method for simultaneous determination of three cationic dyes in environmental samples. Molecules 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25194564

  2. Unsal YE, Soylak M, Tuzen M (2014) Spectrophotometric detection of rhodamine B after separation-enrichment by using multi-walled carbon nanotubes. J AOAC Int 97:1459–1462. https://doi.org/10.5740/jaoacint.12-458

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Zhao P, Liu H, Zhang L, Zhu P, Ge S, Yu J (2020) Paper-based SERS sensing platform based on 3D silver dendrites and molecularly imprinted identifier sandwich hybrid for neonicotinoid quantification. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 12:8845–8854. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b20341

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Castro-Grijalba A, Montes-Garcia V, Cordero-Ferradas MJ, Coronado E, Perez-Juste J, Pastoriza-Santos I (2020) SERS-based molecularly imprinted plasmonic sensor for highly sensitive PAH detection. ACS Sens 5:693–702. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.9b01882

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Jia J, Xu H-H, Zhang G-R, Hu Z, Xu B-Q (2012) High quality gold nanorods and nanospheres for surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Nanotechnology 23:495710. https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/23/49/495710

  6. Liu B, Zhou P, Liu X, Sun X, Li H, Lin M (2013) Detection of pesticides in fruits by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy coupled with gold nanostructures. Food Bioprocess Technol 6:710–718. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-011-0774-5

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hu B, Sun D-W, Pu H, Wei Q (2020) Rapid nondestructive detection of mixed pesticides residues on fruit surface using SERS combined with self-modeling mixture analysis method. Talanta 217:120998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2020.120998

  8. Alsammarraie FK, Lin M, Mustapha A, Lin H, Chen X, Chen Y, Wang H, Huang M (2018) Rapid determination of thiabendazole in juice by SERS coupled with novel gold nanosubstrates. Food Chem 259:219–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.03.105

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Omar R, En Naciri A, Fahes A, Jradi S, Issa A, Kuznetsov D, Shur V, Zelenovskiy P, Battie Y, Akil S (2020) Precise control of the size and gap between gold nanocubes by surface-based synthesis for high SERS performance. Soft Matter 16:1857–1865. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SM02405K

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Fleischmann M, Hendra PJ, McQuillan AJ (1974) Raman spectra of pyridine adsorbed at a silver electrode. Chem Phys Lett 26:163–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2614(74)85388-1

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Alexander KD, Skinner K, Zhang S, Wei H, Lopez R (2010) Tunable SERS in gold nanorod dimers through strain control on an elastomeric substrate. Nano Lett 10:4488–4493. https://doi.org/10.1021/nl1023172

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Ahmad R, Boubekeur-Lecaque L, Nguyen M, Lau-Truong S, Lamouri A, Decorse P, Galtayries A, Pinson J, Felidj N, Mangeney C (2014) Tailoring the surface chemistry of gold nanorods through Au–C/Ag–C covalent bonds using aryl diazonium salts. J Phys Chem C 118:19098–19105. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp504040d

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Alshammari RH, Rajesh UC, Morgan DG, Zaleski JM (2020) Au-Cu@PANI alloy core shells for aerobic fibrin degradation under visible light exposure. ACS Appl Bio Mater 3:7631–7638. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.0c00833

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Nguyen MTT, Mangeney C, Felidj N (2018) Tunable platforms by coupling gold nanorectangles and pNIPAM for surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Advances in Natural Sciences: Nanosci Nanotechnol 9:035013. https://doi.org/10.1088/2043-6254/aad5d6

  15. Nguyen MTT, Nguyen DH, Pham MT, Pham HV, Huynh CD (2019) Synthesis and vertical self-assembly of gold nanorods for surface enhanced Raman scattering. J Electron Mater 48:4970–4976. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-019-07296-2

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Abalde-Cela S, Auguié B, Fischlechner M, Huck WTS, Alvarez-Puebla RA, Liz-Marzán LM, Abell C (2011) Microdroplet fabrication of silver–agarose nanocomposite beads for SERS optical accumulation. Soft Matter 7:1321–1325. https://doi.org/10.1039/C0SM00601G

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Thi Dang L, Le Nguyen H, Van Pham H, Nguyen MTT (2021) Shell thickness-controlled synthesis of Au@Ag core-shell nanorods structure for contaminants sensing by SERS. Nanotechnology 33. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/ac201a

  18. Wang J, Li J, Zeng C, Qu Q, Wang M, Qi W, Su R, He Z (2020) Sandwich-like sensor for the highly specific and reproducible detection of rhodamine 6G on a surface-enhanced Raman scattering platform. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 12:4699–4706. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b16773

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Guo X, Li J, Arabi M, Wang X, Wang Y, Chen L (2020) Molecular-imprinting-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensors. ACS Sensors 5:601–619. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.9b02039

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Pan G, Guo Q, Cao C, Yang H, Li B (2013) Thermo-responsive molecularly imprinted nanogels for specific recognition and controlled release of proteins. Soft Matter 9:3840–3850. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3SM27505A

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Lv Y, Qin Y, Svec F, Tan T (2016) Molecularly imprinted plasmonic nanosensor for selective SERS detection of protein biomarkers. Biosens Bioelectron 80:433–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2016.01.092

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Nikoobakht B, El-Sayed MA (2003) Preparation and growth mechanism of gold nanorods (NRs) using seed-mediated growth method. Chem Mater 15:1957–1962. https://doi.org/10.1021/cm020732l

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Ye X, Zheng C, Chen J, Gao Y, Murray CB (2013) Using binary surfactant mixtures to simultaneously improve the dimensional tunability and monodispersity in the seeded growth of gold nanorods. Nano Lett 13:765–771. https://doi.org/10.1021/nl304478h

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Veloz Martinez I, Ek JI, Ahn EC, Sustaita AO (2022) Molecularly imprinted polymers via reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer synthesis in sensing and environmental applications. RSC Adv 12:9186–9201. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2ra00232a

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Hoang LT, Pham HV, Nguyen MTT (2019) Investigation of the factors influencing the surface-enhanced Raman scattering activity of silver nanoparticles. J Electron Mater 49:1864–1871. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-019-07870-8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Al-Jobouri S, Al-Jobouri I, Ahmed Dhahir S, Al-saade K (2013) Adsorption study of rhodamin B dye on Iraqi bentonite and modified bentonite by nanocompounds TiO2, ZnO, Al2O3 and sodium dodecyl sulfate. Am J Environ Sci 9:269–279. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajessp.2013.269.279

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Duc (University of Science and Technology of Hanoi) for elemental mapping analysis.

Funding

This research is funded by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam under grant number B2021-BKA-17.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 1 Dai Co Viet Road, Hanoi, 10000, Vietnam

    Mai Tuyet Thi Nguyen & Lan Thi Dang

  2. Faculty of Physics, Hanoi National University of Education, 136 Xuan Thuy Street, Hanoi, 10000, Vietnam

    Hai Van Pham

Authors
  1. Mai Tuyet Thi Nguyen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lan Thi Dang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hai Van Pham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Mai Tuyet Thi Nguyen: designed the experiments, funding acquisition, writing — review and editing. Lan Thi Dang: investigation, data curation. Hai Van Pham: methodology, formal analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mai Tuyet Thi Nguyen.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nguyen, M.T.T., Dang, L.T. & Van Pham, H. Gold nanorods coated by molecularly imprinted polymer for sensitive and specific SERS detection of dyes. Colloid Polym Sci 301, 577–586 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-023-05097-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-023-05097-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation