A novel nanocomposite fibrous mesh composed of gold nanorods (AuNRs) and polycaprolatone (PCL) electrospun fibers has been fabricated via polyelectolyte decoration. The use of polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer desposition to “attach” to the AuNRs to the electrospun polymer mesh allows the density of NRs to be controlled. Using a chemically functionalized “bridging” molecule enables the capture of “target” heavy metal ions. The use of an amplification mechanism with Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) to detect trace amounts of captured or reacted species are attached to the AuNRs via the “bridging” molecules. Applications: 1) Identification of toxic substances in the environment for their remediation. 2) Soil and water remediation firms.
1) More reliable and uniform gold nanorod sensor which minimizes detection variations 2) Permits quantitative analysis by establishing a calibration curve (relating SERS signal intensity to heavy metal ion concentration).