Acoustically controlled enhancement of molecular sensing to assess oxidative stress in cells

摘要

We demonstrate a microfluidic platform for the controlled aggregation of colloidal silver nanoparticles using surface acoustic waves (SAWs), enabling surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) analysis of oxidative damage in cells. We show that by varying the frequency and the power of the acoustic energy, it is possible to modulate the aggregation of the colloid within the sample and hence to optimise the SERS analysis. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has become a powerful technique for the characterisation of biomolecules in situ, in a wide range of analytical processes. The enhancement is known to occur at plamonic hot spots, created by the proximity of metal nanostructures or nanoparticles, with nanometer spacings.