AUTHOR=Saveleva Mariia , Prikhozhdenko Ekaterina , Gorin Dmitry , Skirtach Andre G. , Yashchenok Alexey , Parakhonskiy Bogdan 

TITLE=Polycaprolactone-Based, Porous CaCO3 and Ag Nanoparticle Modified Scaffolds as a SERS Platform With Molecule-Specific Adsorption

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2019.00888

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2019.00888

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a high-performance technique allowing detection of extremely low concentrations of analytes. For such applications, fibrous polymeric matrices decorated with plasmonic metal nanostructures can be used as flexible SERS substrates for analysis of analytes in many application. In this study, a three-dimensional SERS substrate consisting of a CaCO<sub>3</sub>-mineralized electrospun (ES) polycaprolactone (PCL) fibrous matrix decorated with silver (Ag) nanoparticles is developed. Such modification of the fibrous substrate allows achieving a significant increase of the SERS signal amplification. Functionalization of fibers by porous CaCO<sub>3</sub> (vaterite) and Ag nanoparticles provides an effective approach of selective adsorption of biomolecules and their precise detection by SERS. This new SERS substrate represents a promising biosensor platform with selectivity to low and high molecular weight molecules.</p>