Large-area, uniform and low-cost dual-mode plasmonic naked-eye colorimetry and SERS sensor with handheld Raman spectrometer

We demonstrated a highly-sensitive, wafer-scale, highly-uniform plasmonic nano-mushroom substrate based on plastic for naked-eye plasmonic colorimetry and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). We gave it the name FlexBrite. The dual-mode functionality of FlexBrite allows for label-free qualitative analysis by SERS with an enhancement factor (EF) of 10⁸ and label-free quantitative analysis by naked-eye colorimetry with a sensitivity of 611 nm RIU^-1. The SERS EF of FlexBrite in the wet state was found to be 4.81 × 10⁸, 7 times stronger than in the dry state, making FlexBrite suitable for aqueous environments such as microfluid systems. The label-free detection of biotin-streptavidin interaction by both SERS and colorimetry was demonstrated with FlexBrite. The detection of trace amounts of the narcotic drug methamphetamine in drinking water by SERS was implemented with a handheld Raman spectrometer and FlexBrite. This plastic-based dual-mode nano-mushroom substrate has the potential to be used as a sensing platform for easy and fast analysis in chemical and biological assays.