Recently, a paper form Prof. Jinlong Zhang Jinlong group, “Improved SERS Activity on Plasmon-Free TiO2 Photonic Microarray by Enhancing Light-Matter Coupling” has been published on J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2014, DOI: 10.1021/ja5052632, download link: http://pubs.acs.org/articlesonrequest/AOR-Nuvbzj9afTHKcBTXVwsB). The research was completed by PhD student Dianyu Qi and master student Liujia Lu under the guidance of Prof. Jinlong Zhang and associate Prof. Lingzhi Wang.
Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been widely applied in environment, catalysis and biology fields. Although semiconductor substrates are SERS active and important in monitoring catalytic process and adsorption state of molecules in the interface, their development is limited by fatal defect of low sensitivity. In this paper, we observed unprecedentedly high sensitivity from plasmon-free TiO2 photonic microarray, which is attributed to multiply light scattering by macroporous structure. Moreover, based on our early findings on utilizing coupling interaction between photonic band gap of TiO2 and incident light wavelength to improve photocatalysis efficiency (Applied Catalysis B: Environmental DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb. 2014.06.020; Applied Catalysis B: Environmental DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb. 2014.06.024), this paper first unveils the relation between photonic band gap and SERS sensitivity, and achieves higher sensitivity by utilizing slow light effect on incident laser. This SERS substrate is recyclable by solar irradiation after it is used for the detection of organic analyte such as methylene blue. Totally speaking, this work provides a new approach by utilizing light-matter coupling to push the development of plasmon-free SERS substrate.
The research of Prof. Zhang’s group includes photocatalysis, organic-inorganic hybrid material, and mesoporous functional materials. Recent studies have been published on J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014,136: 5852-5855; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134, 8746; Chem. Commun., 2014, 50, 6637-6640; J. Catal., 2013, 297, 236; Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2013, 52, 6704; Chem. Comm., 2011, 47, 4947; ACS Nano, 2011, 5, 3447; Energy Environ. Sci., 2010, 3, 715, whose total citation times by others are more than 5000.
