Guiding molecules with electrostatic forces in Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)

TL;DR

This paper investigates using electrostatic forces to direct charged molecules to SERS-active sites, enabling selective enhancement of dyes based on charge and potentially broadening SERS applications.

Contribution

It introduces electrostatic guiding as a novel method to control molecule placement in SERS, improving selectivity and efficiency.

Findings

Electrostatic forces can effectively guide charged molecules to SERS substrates.

Selective enhancement of dyes based on their charge is demonstrated.

Potential for extending electrostatic guiding to other applications is discussed.

Abstract

In Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) the problem of drawing molecules to the places where surface plasmon resonance enhancements will produce signals is one of the most basic ones, and the initial obstacle to every application of the effect. We explore the possibility of using electrostatic forces as a means to "guide" charged molecules in solution toward SERS active substrates. We also show explicitly the possibility of selectively enhancing different types of dyes according to their charge, and we discuss briefly possible extensions for other applications where "electrostatic guiding" could be an option.