Detection of Explosives by SERS Platform Using Metal Nanogap Substrates

Adhikari, Samir; Ampadu, Emmanuel K.; Kim, Minjun; Noh, Daegwon; Oh, Eunsoon; Lee, Donghan

doi:10.3390/s21165567

Open AccessCommunication

Detection of Explosives by SERS Platform Using Metal Nanogap Substrates

by

Samir Adhikari

,

Emmanuel K. Ampadu

,

Minjun Kim

,

Daegwon Noh

,

Eunsoon Oh

^*

and

Donghan Lee

^*

Department of Physics, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sensors 2021, 21(16), 5567; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21165567

Submission received: 16 July 2021 / Revised: 12 August 2021 / Accepted: 15 August 2021 / Published: 18 August 2021

(This article belongs to the Section Nanosensors)

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Abstract

Detecting trace amounts of explosives to ensure personal safety is important, and this is possible by using laser-based spectroscopy techniques. We performed surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) using plasmonic nanogap substrates for the solution phase detection of some nitro-based compounds, taking advantage of the hot spot at the nanogap. An excitation wavelength of 785 nm with an incident power of as low as ≈0.1 mW was used to excite the nanogap substrates. Since both RDX and PETN cannot be dissolved in water, acetone was used as a solvent. TNT was dissolved in water as well as in hexane. The main SERS peaks of TNT, RDX, and PETN were clearly observed down to the order of picomolar concentration. The variations in SERS spectra observed from different explosives can be useful in distinguishing and identifying different nitro-based compounds. This result indicates that our nanogap substrates offer an effective approach for explosives identification.

Keywords: nitro compounds; explosives detection; SERS; nanogap; surface plasmon; field enhancement

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MDPI and ACS Style

Adhikari, S.; Ampadu, E.K.; Kim, M.; Noh, D.; Oh, E.; Lee, D. Detection of Explosives by SERS Platform Using Metal Nanogap Substrates. Sensors 2021, 21, 5567. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21165567

AMA Style

Adhikari S, Ampadu EK, Kim M, Noh D, Oh E, Lee D. Detection of Explosives by SERS Platform Using Metal Nanogap Substrates. Sensors. 2021; 21(16):5567. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21165567

Chicago/Turabian Style

Adhikari, Samir, Emmanuel K. Ampadu, Minjun Kim, Daegwon Noh, Eunsoon Oh, and Donghan Lee. 2021. "Detection of Explosives by SERS Platform Using Metal Nanogap Substrates" Sensors 21, no. 16: 5567. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21165567

APA Style

Adhikari, S., Ampadu, E. K., Kim, M., Noh, D., Oh, E., & Lee, D. (2021). Detection of Explosives by SERS Platform Using Metal Nanogap Substrates. Sensors, 21(16), 5567. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21165567

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Detection of Explosives by SERS Platform Using Metal Nanogap Substrates

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