Controlled Permeability in Porous Polymer Nanocapsules Enabling Size- and Charge-Selective SERS Nanoprobes

• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b05522
• Publication Date: 2016-05-17T16:14:22Z
• Authors: Ying Jia; Sergey N. Shmakov; Eugene Pinkhassik
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

Nanoprobes for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) were prepared by creating nanorattles, or yolk-shell structures, containing gold or silver nanoparticles entrapped in porous hollow polymer nanocapsules. Controlled permeability of the shells of nanocapsules, achieved by controlling the pore size and/or shell surface functionalization, resulted in size- and charge-selective SERS analyses. For example, a trace amount of phenanthroline, a model analyte, was detected in human blood plasma without preprocessing of plasma samples. Comparison with commercially available nanoparticles showed superior performance of the newly prepared nanorattle structures.