Development of Ultrabright Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Nanotags.

表面增强拉曼散射（SERS）是一种非常灵敏和选择性的技术，正迅速成为超灵敏分析的一种有效方法。它提供了比正常拉曼散射增加的增强；因此，它是理想的痕量分析物的检测。由于获得了分子特异性光谱，它非常适合检测混合物中的分析物。纳米标签是光学明亮的金属纳米颗粒，具有强烈的SERS响应，可用于进行超灵敏检测，例如，用于检测疾病相关生物标志物的生物分析分析。纳米标签可以用不同的SERS活性标签进行编码，由于其独特而尖锐的振动光谱，可以进行非常敏感的多路检测。该项目建议开发和优化光学明亮的纳米标签，使用785 nm及以上的激发波长进行检测。这将需要合成不同类型的金属纳米粒子，这些金属纳米粒子对电磁纳米粒子的红外区域具有吸光度，并且对它们作为标签的环境稳定。例如，这可能涉及将纳米标签封装在二氧化硅或聚合物中。我们还将使用最先进的分析技术来表征纳米标签，并在单粒子水平上了解它们的SERS特性。

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an extremely sensitive and selective technique that is rapidly emerging as an effective method for ultrasensitive analysis. It offers an increased enhancement over normal Raman scattering; therefore, it is ideal for the detection of trace amounts of analyte. And because of the molecularly specific spectra obtained it is perfect for detecting analytes in mixtures. Nanotags are optical bright metal nanoparticles that give a strong SERS response and can be used to carry out ultrasensitive detection in, for example, bioanalytical assays for the detection of disease relevant biomarkers. Nanotags can be coded with different SERS active labels to allow very sensitive multiplex detection due to their unique and sharp vibrational spectra.This project proposes to develop and optimise optically bright nanotags to carry out detection using excitation wavelengths at 785 nm and above. This will require synthesising different types of metal nanoparticles which have absorbances towards the infrared region of the electromagnetic nanoparticles and will be stable to the environment in which they will act as a label. This may involve, for example, encapsulation of the nanotags in silica or polymer. We will also use state of the art, advanced analytical techniques to characterise the nanotags and understand their SERS properties at the single particle level.