Flexible Two-Dimensional Vanadium Carbide MXene-Based Membranes with Ultra-Rapid Molecular Enrichment for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Two-dimensional (2D) MXene materials have attracted broad interest in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) applications by virtue of their abundant surface terminations and excellent photoelectric properties. Herein, we propose to design highly sensitive MXene-based SERS membranes by integrating a 2D downsizing strategy with molecular enrichment approaches. Two types of 2D vanadium carbide (V4C3 and V2C) MXenes are demonstrated for ultrasensitive SERS sensing, and corresponding SERS mechanisms including the effect of 2D vanadium carbide thickness on their electron density states and interfacial photoinduced charge transfer resonance were discussed. A 2D downsizing strategy authorizes nonplasmonic SERS detection with a sensitivity of 1 X 10-7 M. Moreover, the performance can be further upgraded by vacuum-assisted filtration, which enables an ultrarapid molecular enrichment (within 2 min), ultrahigh molecular removal rate (over 95%), and improved sensitivity (5 X 10-9 M). This work may shed light on the MXene-based materials as an innovative platform for nonplasmonic SERS detection.

Automated summary

This study proposes highly sensitive MXene-based SERS membranes by integrating a 2D downsizing strategy with molecular enrichment approaches. Two types of 2D vanadium carbide MXenes are demonstrated for ultrasensitive SERS sensing, and the performance can be further improved by vacuum-assisted filtration, enabling rapid molecular enrichment and high sensitivity detection.