Nano-substructured plasmonic pore arrays: a robust, low cost route to reproducible hierarchical structures extended across macroscopic dimensions

Abstract

Plasmonic nanostructures are important across diverse applications from sensing through renewable energy. Periodic porous array structures are particularly attractive because such topography offers a means to encapsulate or capture solution...

Multimodal Investigation into the Interaction of Quinacrine with Microcavity-Supported Lipid Bilayers

“…As reported previously, gold cavity array structures create excellent SERS (surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy) platforms. 66 , 74 − 76 As a result, we used Raman spectroscopy of the bilayers at the array to gain molecular structural insight into the drug’s interaction with the membrane. Before SERS measurements, we first performed classical Raman measurements of the individual lipids, DOPC and cholesterol, and quinacrine drug in their powder forms on flat gold substrates.…”

“…The chip was left overnight without shaking in order to evaporate the solvent to form a hexagonally close-packed self-assembled microsphere array. Next, the controlled electrochemical deposition of gold was carried out using a well-characterized amperometric I – t curve that can be used to determine precisely when gold is ∼0.5 μm thick 66 using a three-electrode electrochemical workstation (Figure S1a, SI ). After gold deposition, the substrates were rinsed with water and subsequently electrochemically cleaned using 0.05 M H 2 SO 4 with cyclic voltammetry (Figure S1b, SI ) in order to remove any oxide layers formed.…”

Robust Photoelectric Biomolecular Switch at a Microcavity-Supported Lipid Bilayer

“…The top surface of the gold microcavity arrays was then selectively functionalized with a SAM of 6-mercaptohexanol (1 mM) for at least 24 h in ethanol ( Figure S3c ), before removal of the templating spheres which were subsequently washed out of the array with tetrahydrofuran (THF). 30 …”

“…MSLBs were prepared across periodic pore arrays prepared in PDMS for the fluorescence correlation study or in gold for electrochemical experiments by PS sphere templating methods previously described. − Briefly, the gold microcavity arrays were prepared by drop casting PS microspheres of 1 μm of diameter followed by gold electroplating, as described in the schematic presented in Figure a. − To obtain a highly packed microcavity array, highly closed packed monolayers of PS microspheres were cast using the gravity-assisted method onto pre-cut rectangles of gold-coated silicon wafers. Then, gold was electrodeposited to the interstitial surface between the PS microspheres by applying a reduction potential (−0.6 V, Ag/AgCl) to the gold array in the presence of a cyanide-free gold solution.…”

“…The electrodeposition was controlled by the evolution of the current at the gold array until the current reached a minimum value corresponding to the closer distance between the spheres, indicating that the electrodeposition of gold has reached the hemisphere of PS (Figure S3a). After the gold electrodeposition, the arrays were electrochemically cleaned using cyclic voltammetry in sulfuric acid (10 mM) for six cycles (−0.2 to 1.8 V) and rinsed with deionized water and ethanol and dried gently under nitrogen flow (Figure S3b). The top surface of the gold microcavity arrays was then selectively functionalized with a SAM of 6-mercaptohexanol (1 mM) for at least 24 h in ethanol (Figure S3c), before removal of the templating spheres which were subsequently washed out of the array with tetrahydrofuran (THF) …”