Seed-mediated growth of highly concentrated silver nanoparticles on a flexible substrate for applications in SERS-based trace detection

In this work, we demonstrate a seeded approach for in-situ growth of Ag nanostructures directly on filter paper. Multiple growth steps were used to increase the size of Ag NPs grown from Au seeds. Essentially, this procedure generated a high density of NPs on filter paper which in turn provided high enhancement of Raman signals. We have seen a marked increase in the SERS enhancement factor with each growth step. Moreover, the relative standard deviation (RSD) values decreased with each growth step, indicating the relatively uniform distribution of NPs on the substrate. With four growth steps, we were able to achieve an EF of 9.28 × 104 with RSD values of 14%. In particular, the detection limit of 10 nM for CV has been achieved by both solution drying and swabbing. Moreover, swab detection of explosive material ammonium nitrate down to 100 µM has also been demonstrated.