SERS of nitro group compounds for sensing of explosives.

Detecting small concentrations of nitro-compounds surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is reported. In particular, explosive analogues, such as 4-nitrophenol, 1-nitronaphthalene, and 5-nitroisoquinoline, and an explosive material (picric acid) are investigated and prepared by measurements using two different methods. One method involved mixing the analyte with plasmonic silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in a solution, followed by subsequent drop-casting of the mixture onto a silicon substrate.

Highly-selective and sensitive plasmon-enhanced fluorescence sensor of aflatoxins.

We demonstrate a novel sensor platform with enhanced sensitivity and selectivity for detecting aflatoxin B1 - a common food toxin in cereals. The approach is based on a molecularly imprinted polymer film that provides selective binding of the aflatoxin B1 and fluorescence signal from the analyte molecule enhanced by the local electric field induced in close proximity to the surface of a silver nanoparticle excited at the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) wavelength. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with supramolecular aflatoxin-selective receptor sites and embedded spherical silver nanoparticles (with diameters 30-70 nm, the LSPR band 407 nm) were prepared in the form of a thin polymer film on the surface of a glass slide using polymerization.