Superhydrophobic SERS substrates via all dry laser structuring of cross-linked PDMS films
Polymer, cilt.366, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 366
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.polymer.2026.130869
- Dergi Adı: Polymer
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Compendex, INSPEC, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Direct laser structuring, Multifunctional surfaces, SERS, Solvent-free manufacturing, Superhydrophobic surfaces
- Erciyes Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Integrating plasmonic functionality into superhydrophobic surfaces via simple, scalable, and eco-friendly fabrication routes remains a formidable challenge in surface engineering. Herein, an entirely solvent-free strategy is presented for transforming polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) into a multifunctional superhydrophobic-plasmonic platform, utilizing an accessible CO2 laser followed by silver (Ag) thermal evaporation. The strong vibrational resonance of PDMS with the CO2 laser wavelength strictly confines the photothermal energy to a shallow near-surface regime. This highly localized deposition triggers rapid ablation and melt-redistribution, architecting a hierarchical micro/nano-scale topography without wet-chemical etching, lithographic masks, or fluorinated modifiers. The optimally structured PDMS exhibited a water contact angle of ∼172° and an exceptionally low sliding angle, indicating outstanding superhydrophobic performance. Systematic modulation reveals that a 50 nm Ag thickness strikes an optimal balance, preserving multiscale morphology while maximizing electromagnetic hotspot density within nanoscale interparticle gaps, thereby sustaining superhydrophobicity (∼170°). Critically, this architecture spatially confines evaporating droplets, enabling pronounced analyte enrichment directly onto active hotspots to synergistically augment sensing performance. Concentration-dependent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements achieve a reliable limit of detection of ∼1 pM for Rhodamine 6G. Furthermore, the detection of lactic acid across pH 3–6 demonstrates the platform's applicability to biologically relevant acidic analytes associated with dental caries.