Ultra-sensitive reusable SERS sensor for multiple hazardous materials detection on single platform

We demonstrate the detection of dipicolinic acid, (DPA), a biomarker of bacterial spores for Bacillus anthracis, 2,4-Dinitrotoluene (DNT) and picric acid (PA) nitroaromatic hazardous chemicals on ultra-sensitive, reusable femtosecond laser textured Au nanostructures decorated with hierarchical AuNPs as a SERS substrate. The AuNPs were achieved by ablating an Au sheet using two different laser scan speeds (1 and 0.1 mm/s) in linear and crossed patterns. The morphological studies revealed dense hierarchical nanostructures decorated with spherical AuNPs possessing 30-40 nm in size in 0.1 mm/s laser scan. The limits of detection (LOD) of the sensor were determined from the detailed SERS measurements and were estimated to be 0.83 pg/L, 3.6 pg/L and 2.3 pg/L for DPA, DNT, and PA, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, the achieved sensitivity is nearly 2 orders improved for DPA when compared with the currently reported LODs using other techniques and 1 order in the case of SERS. Moreover, for DNT and PA the LODs were found to be either superior or comparable with recent reports. We have also demonstrated the competence of our SERS substrates by testing a few real samples (water spiked with these analytes) and again obtained very good sensitivity.

Automated summary

A new SERS detection method based on femtosecond laser micro-nanostructures was demonstrated, showing efficient and highly sensitive detection of biomarkers for bacterial spores and hazardous chemicals. The sensitivity for dipicolinic acid was improved by two orders of magnitude compared to current techniques.