Wafer-Scale Gold Nanomesh via Nanotransfer Printing toward a Cost-Efficient Multiplex Sensing Platform

Abstract

Multiplex sensing platforms via large-scale and cost-efficient fabrication processes for detecting biological and chemical substance are essential for many applications such as intelligent diagnosis, environmental monitoring, etc. For the past decades, the performance of those sensors has been significantly improved by the rapid development of nanofabrication technologies. However, facile processes with cost-effectiveness and large-scale throughput still present challenges. Nano-transfer printing together with the imprinting process shows potential for the efficient fabrication of 100 nm structures. Herein, a wafer-scale gold nanomesh (AuNM) structure on glass substrates with 100 nm scale features via nano-imprinting and secondary transfer printing technology is reported. Furthermore, potential sensing applications are demonstrated towards biochemical substance detection by using AuNM structures as highly responsive substrates for achieving the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and as working electrodes of electrochemical analysisfor the detection of metallic ions. In the SERS detection mode, different nucleotides can be detected down to 1 nm level and distinguished via theirunique fingerprint patterns. As for electrochemical analysis mode, Pb2+ ions can be detected out of other interfering components with concentration down to 30 nm. These multimodal sensing mechanisms provide complementary informationand pave the way for low-cost and high-performance sensing platforms.