Porous carbon nanowire array for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

• Published in: Nature communications 2020-09, Vol.11 (1), p.1-8, Article 4772
• Main Authors: Chen, Nan, Xiao, Ting-Hui, Luo, Zhenyi, Kitahama, Yasutaka, Hiramatsu, Kotaro, Kishimoto, Naoki, Itoh, Tamitake, Cheng, Zhenzhou, Goda, Keisuke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 140/125; 140/133; 639/301/1019; 639/301/357; 639/624/1107/527/1821; 639/638/542/969; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18590-7

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful tool for vibrational spectroscopy as it provides several orders of magnitude higher sensitivity than inherently weak spontaneous Raman scattering by exciting localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) on metal substrates. However, SERS can be unreliable for biomedical use since it sacrifices reproducibility, uniformity, biocompatibility, and durability due to its strong dependence on “hot spots”, large photothermal heat generation, and easy oxidization. Here, we demonstrate the design, fabrication, and use of a metal-free (i.e., LSPR-free), topologically tailored nanostructure composed of porous carbon nanowires in an array as a SERS substrate to overcome all these problems. Specifically, it offers not only high signal enhancement (~10 6 ) due to its strong broadband charge-transfer resonance, but also extraordinarily high reproducibility due to the absence of hot spots, high durability due to no oxidization, and high compatibility to biomolecules due to its fluorescence quenching capability. SERS can be unreliable for biomedical use. The authors demonstrate a metal-free nanostructure composed of porous carbon nanowires in an array as a SERS substrate. It offers 10 6 signal enhancement due to strong broadband charge-transfer resonance and substrate-to-substrate, spot-to-spot and time-to-time consistency in the SERS spectrum.