Sensitive, Reusable, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensors Constructed with a 3D Graphene/Si Hybrid

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates based on graphene and its derivatives have recently attracted attention among those interested in the detection of trace molecules; however, these substrates generally show poor uniformity, an unsatisfactory enhancement factor, and require a complex fabrication process. Herein, we design and fabricate three-dimensional (3D) graphene/silicon (3D-Gr/Si) heterojunction SERS substrates to detect various types of molecules. Notably, the detection limit of 3D-Gr/Si can reach 10(-10) M for rhodamine 6G (R6G) and rhodamine B (RB), 10(-7) M for crystal violet (CRV), copper(II) phthalocyanine (CuPc), and methylene blue (MB), 10(-8) M for dopamine (DA), 10(-6) M for bovine serum albumin (BSA), and 10(-5) M for melamine (Mel), which is superior to most reported graphene-based SERS substrates. Besides, the proposed 3D-Gr/Si heterojunction SERS substrates can achieve a high uniformity with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 5%. Moreover, the 3D-Gr/Si SERS substrates are reusable after washing with ethyl alcohol to remove the adsorbed molecules. These excellent SERS performances are attributed to the novel 3D structure and abundantly exposed atomically thin edges, which facilitate charge transfer between 3D-Gr and probe molecules. We believe that the 3D-Gr/Si heterojunction SERS substrates offer potential for practical applications in biochemical molecule detection and provide insight into the design of high-performance SERS substrates.

Automated summary

The three-dimensional graphene/silicon heterojunction SERS substrates designed and fabricated in this study show excellent performance in detecting various molecules, with high sensitivity and uniformity. These substrates offer great potential for practical applications in biochemical molecule detection, highlighting the importance of 3D structure and exposed atomically thin edges in enhancing SERS performance.