Increasing surface-enhanced Raman scattering density using gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles controlled via a magnetic field for sensitive and efficient biomarker detection

Early detection of various diseases is expected using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). For example, a method of labeling an antibody of a disease-related molecule on metal nanoparticles and detecting the SERS signals of the particles bound to the antigen is a promising approach. However, the problems of a slow antigen-antibody reaction and low sensitivity remain unsolved. In this study, we fabricated nanoparticles that can be freely moved using an external magnetic field for rapid antigen-antibody reaction and also nanoengineered the substrate to increase the density of hotspots required for SERS. Gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles (Au-MNPs) with a core-shell structure were prepared by applying multiple coatings of gold onto magnetic iron(II,III) oxide nanoparticles, which were used as the core. A neodymium magnet easily moved and converged the Au-MNPs in the solution within a few seconds. In addition, a silver nanoparticle substrate (Ag-NS) with a hexagonal close-packed structure fixed on a polydimethylsiloxane thin film was prepared, and the stable generation of SERS was confirmed over the entire substrate. Upon aggregation of the Au-MNPs onto Ag-NS using a neodymium magnet, the total SERS strength per unit area drastically increased, suggesting that the combination of Au-MNPs and Ag-NS increased the density of the generated hotspots. In future work, with the labeling of antibodies onto Au-MNPs, we expect the proposed method to be applied in the sensitive measurement of biomarkers associated with diseases.