Publications [#262524] of Tuan Vo-Dinh

Papers Published

1. Fales, AM; Yuan, H; Vo-Dinh, T, Development of Hybrid Silver-Coated Gold Nanostars for Nonaggregated Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering., The journal of physical chemistry. C, Nanomaterials and interfaces, vol. 118 no. 7 (February, 2014), pp. 3708-3715, ISSN 1932-7447 [doi]
   (last updated on 2026/01/20)

   Abstract:
   In the ongoing search for ever-brighter surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoprobes, gold nanostars (AuNSs) have emerged as one of the best geometries for producing SERS in a nonaggregated state. Despite their high enhancement factor, optical extinction from plasmon-matched nanoparticles can greatly attenuate the overall SERS intensity. Herein, we report the development of a new hybrid bimetallic NS-based platform that exhibits superior resonant SERS (SERRS) properties. In this new nanoplatform, coating AuNSs with a subtotal layer of silver (AuNS@Ag) can further increase their SERRS brightness by an order of magnitude when being interrogated by an off-resonant excitation source. Silica-encapsulated AuNS@Ag nanoprobes were injected intradermally into a rat pelt, where SERRS was readily detected with higher signal-to-noise than nanoprobes prepared from AuNS. Moreover, these off-resonance AuNS@Ag nanoprobes did not cause any gross photothermal damage to tissue, which was observed with the plasmon-matched AuNSs. This novel SERRS-active hybrid nanoprobe exhibits high SERRS brightness and offers promising properties for future applications in sensing and molecular imaging.