UV-Catalyzed TiO<sub>2</sub>–Based Optofluidic SERS Chip for Three Online Strategies: Fabrication, Detection, and Self-Cleaning
Ning Sun, Bo Huang, Zhenyin Lv, Na Ran, Gan Yuan, Jie Zhang
Abstract
We developed an optofluidic surface-enhanced Raman scattering chip capable of online fabrication, online molecular detection, and online self-cleaning. In this chip, we harnessed UV light to successfully reduce an AgNO 3 solution, resulting in the formation of Ag nanoparticles on carbon fiber cloth coated with titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ). This innovative approach enabled the online fabrication of AgNPs@TiO 2 –CFC SERS structures. By introducing target molecules into our optofluidic SERS chip, we achieved online molecular Raman detection. Furthermore, by leveraging the UV light-induced self-cleaning properties of TiO 2, we achieved continuous online self-cleaning of the molecules. To verify the feasibility and stability of our method, we conducted multiple experiments for online detection and self-cleaning. Experimental results demonstrated impressively low detection limits of 10 –8 mol/L for crystal violet and 10 –9 mol/L for rhodamine 6G, with an enhancement factor as high as 1.4 × 10 6 . Additionally, we successfully applied our method to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons like pyrene.