Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering and Gated Materials for Sensing Applications: The Ultrasensitive Detection of Mycoplasma and Cocaine

Abstract

[EN] We present herein a novel combination of gated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for sensing applications. As a proof-of-concept, we show the design of a system comprising MSNs loaded with crystal violet (CV), a molecule with high Raman cross section acting as SERS reporter, and capped with either a suitable DNA sequence for the detection of Mycoplasma genomic DNA or with an aptamer that selectively coordinates cocaine. In both cases the presence of the corresponding target analyte in solution (i.e., genomic DNA or cocaine) resulted in the release of CV. CV delivery was detected by SERS upon adsorption on gold nanotriangles (AuNTs), which display an efficient electromagnetic field enhancement and a high colloidal stability. By using this novel procedure a limit of detection of at least 30 copies DNA per mL was determined for the detection of Mycoplasma genomic DNA, whereas cocaine was detected at concentrations as low as 10 nm. ; M.C.-P. acknowledges an FPU Scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. L.M.L.- M. acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant #267867 Plasmaquo) and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013 under Grant Agreement No 312184, SACS). M.O. is grateful to the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a FPI-UPV grant. Financial support from the Spanish Government (Project MAT2015-64139-C4-1-R MINECO/FEDER) and the Generalitat Valenciana (Project PROMETEOII/2014/047) is gratefully acknowledged. ; Oroval, M.; Coronado Puchau, M.; Langer, J.; Sanz-Ortiz, MN.; Ribes, À.; Aznar, E.; Coll Merino, MC. (2016). Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering and Gated Materials for Sensing Applications: The Ultrasensitive Detection of Mycoplasma and Cocaine. Chemistry - A European Journal. 22(38):13488-13495. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201602457 ; S ; 13488 ; 13495 ; 22 ; 38