Universal surface-enhanced Raman tags: individual nanorods for measurements from the visible to the infrared (514 – 1064 nm)

Alison McLintock, Carlota A. Cunha Matos, Michele Zagnoni, Owain R. Millington, Alastair W. Wark*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

46 Citations (Scopus)
314 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a promising imaging modality for use in a variety of multiplexed tracking and sensing applications in biological environments. However, the uniform production of SERS nanoparticle tags with high yield and brightness still remains a significant challenge. Here, we describe an approach based on the controlled co-adsorption of multiple dye species onto gold nanorods to create tags that can be detected across a much wider range of excitation wavelengths (514 – 1064 nm) compared to conventional approaches that typically focus on a single wavelength. This was achieved without the added complexity of nanoparticle aggregation or growing surrounding metallic shells to further enhance the surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) signal. Correlated Raman and scanning electron microscopy mapping measurements of individual tags were used to clearly demonstrate that strong and reproducible SERRS signals at high particle yields (>92 %) were readily achievable. The polyelectrolyte-wrapped nanorod-dye conjugates were also found to be highly stable as well as non-cytotoxic. To demonstrate the use of these universal tags for the multimodal optical imaging of biological specimens, confocal Raman and fluorescence maps of stained immune cells following nanoparticle uptake were acquired at several excitation wavelengths and compared with dark-field images. The ability to colocalize and track individual
optically encoded nanoparticles across a wide range of wavelengths simultaneously will enable the use of SERS alongside other imaging techniques for the real-time monitoring of cell-nanoparticle interactions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)8600-8609
Number of pages10
JournalACS Nano
Volume8
Issue number8
Early online date8 Aug 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Aug 2014

Keywords

  • surface-enhanced Raman scattering
  • nanoparticle aggregation
  • multimodal optical imaging
  • SERS
  • SERS nanoparticle tags

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