TY - THES A1 - Prinz, Julia T1 - DNA origami substrates as a versatile tool for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) T1 - DNA Origami-Substrate als ein vielseitiges Werkzeug für die oberflächenverstärkte Raman-Streuung (SERS) N2 - Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a promising tool to obtain rich chemical information about analytes at trace levels. However, in order to perform selective experiments on individual molecules, two fundamental requirements have to be fulfilled. On the one hand, areas with high local field enhancement, so-called “hot spots”, have to be created by positioning the supporting metal surfaces in close proximity to each other. In most cases hot spots are formed in the gap between adjacent metal nanoparticles (NPs). On the other hand, the analyte has to be positioned directly in the hot spot in order to profit from the highest signal amplification. The use of DNA origami substrates provides both, the arrangement of AuNPs with nm precision as well as the ability to bind analyte molecules at predefined positions. Consequently, the present cumulative doctoral thesis aims at the development of a novel SERS substrate based on a DNA origami template. To this end, two DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are attached to one DNA origami substrate resulting in the formation of a AuNP dimer and thus in a hot spot within the corresponding gap. The obtained structures are characterized by correlated atomic force microscopy (AFM) and SERS imaging which allows for the combination of structural and chemical information. Initially, the proof-of principle is presented which demonstrates the potential of the novel approach. It is shown that the Raman signal of 15 nm AuNPs coated with dye-modified DNA (dye: carboxytetramethylrhodamine (TAMRA)) is significantly higher for AuNP dimers arranged on a DNA origami platform in comparison to single AuNPs. Furthermore, by attaching single TAMRA molecules in the hot spot between two 5 nm AuNPs and optimizing the size of the AuNPs by electroless gold deposition, SERS experiments at the few-molecule level are presented. The initially used DNA origami-AuNPs design is further optimized in many respects. On the one hand, larger AuNPs up to a diameter of 60 nm are used which are additionally treated with a silver enhancement solution to obtain Au-Ag-core-shell NPs. On the other hand, the arrangement of both AuNPs is altered to improve the position of the dye molecule within the hot spot as well as to decrease the gap size between the two particles. With the optimized design the detection of single dye molecules (TAMRA and cyanine 3 (Cy3)) by means of SERS is demonstrated. Quantitatively, enhancement factors up to 10^10 are estimated which is sufficiently high to detect single dye molecules. In the second part, the influence of graphene as an additional component of the SERS substrate is investigated. Graphene is a two-dimensional material with an outstanding combination of electronical, mechanical and optical properties. Here, it is demonstrated that single layer graphene (SLG) replicates the shape of underlying non-modified DNA origami substrates very well, which enables the monitoring of structural alterations by AFM imaging. In this way, it is shown that graphene encapsulation significantly increases the structural stability of bare DNA origami substrates towards mechanical force and prolonged exposure to deionized water. Furthermore, SLG is used to cover DNA origami substrates which are functionalized with a 40 nm AuNP dimer. In this way, a novel kind of hybrid material is created which exhibits several advantages compared to the analogue non-covered SERS substrates. First, the fluorescence background of dye molecules that are located in between the AuNP surface and SLG is efficiently reduced. Second, the photobleaching rate of the incorporated dye molecules is decreased up to one order of magnitude. Third, due to the increased photostability of the investigated dye molecules, the performance of polarization-dependent series measurements on individual structures is enabled. This in turn reveals extensive information about the dye molecules in the hot spot as well as about the strain induced within the graphene lattice. Although SLG can significantly influence the SERS substrate in the aforementioned ways, all those effects are strongly related to the extent of contact with the underlying AuNP dimer. N2 - Desoxyribonukleinsäure (engl. deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)) ist nicht nur Träger der Erbinformation, sondern wird auch seit den frühen 80er Jahren als Gerüstmaterial in der Nanotechnologie verwendet. Im Jahr 2006 wurde die bis dato entwickelte DNA-Nanotechnologie durch die Erfindung der sogenannten DNA Origami-Technik weiter revolutioniert. Diese erlaubt die Konstruktion vielfältiger zwei- und dreidimensionaler Strukturen durch gezielte DNA-Selbstassemblierung. Basierend auf der grundlegenden Watson-Crick Basenpaarung innerhalb eines DNA-Doppelstrangs können die gewünschten Zielstrukturen dabei mit hoher Genauigkeit vorhergesagt werden. Neben der Entwicklung vielfältiger DNA-Konstrukte eignen sich DNA Origami-Substrate zudem hervorragend zur Bindung funktionaler Einheiten mit der Präzision im Bereich von Nanometern. Somit lassen sich beispielsweise Goldnanopartikel (AuNPs) präzise anordnen. Dies ist von höchstem Interesse im Zusammenhang mit der oberflächenverstärkten Ramanstreuung (engl. surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)). SERS basiert darauf, die naturgemäß schwache Ramanstreuung eines Analyten um mehrere Größenordnungen zu verstärken, indem der Analyt nahe einer Metalloberfläche positioniert wird. Die Verstärkung der Ramanstreuung beruht hierbei hauptsächlich auf der Wechselwirkung des Analyten mit dem elektromagnetischen Feld der Metalloberfläche und kann im Zwischenraum zweier benachbarter Metallstrukturen besonders stark ausgeprägt sein. Die vorliegende kumulative Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der Entwicklung einer DNA Origami-basierten Sensoroberfläche für die Anwendung von SERS-Experimenten. Hierbei werden jeweils zwei AuNPs in gezieltem Abstand an ein DNA Origami-Substrat gebunden und das verstärkte Ramansignal eines Analyten im Zwischenraum des AuNP-Dimers detektiert. Zunächst wird das allgemeine Prinzip in Form eines Wirksamkeitsnachweises vorgestellt, in welchem der Farbstoff Carboxytetramethylrhodamin (TAMRA) als Analyt verwendet wird. Die darauf aufbauenden Experimente zielen auf eine Verringerung der Nachweisgrenze bis hin zur Einzelmoleküldetektion ab. Im Zuge dessen werden vielseitige Optimierungsschritte durchgeführt, die die Größe, die Anordnung sowie die Ummantelung der AuNPs mit einer dünnen Silberschicht betreffen. Es wird gezeigt, dass durch die Optimierung aller Parameter die Detektion einzelner TAMRA- und Cyanin 3 (Cy3)-Moleküle mittels SERS möglich ist. Weiterhin wird Graphen, ein erst im Jahr 2004 entdecktes Material bestehend aus einer einzigen Schicht Kohlenstoffatome, als weiterer Bestandteil der untersuchten Nanostrukturen eingeführt. Graphen zeichnet sich durch eine bislang einzigartige Kombination aus optischen, elektronischen und mechanischen Eigenschaften aus und hat sich daher innerhalb kürzester Zeit zu einem vielfältigen Forschungsschwerpunkt entwickelt. In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird zunächst die erhöhte strukturelle Stabilität von Graphen bedeckten DNA Origami-Substraten im Hinblick auf mechanische Beanspruchung sowie auf die Inkubation in deionisiertem Wasser demonstriert. In weiterführenden Betrachtungen werden auch DNA Origami-Substrate, die mit AuNP-Dimeren funktionalisiert sind, mit Graphen bedeckt, und somit eine neuartige Hybridstruktur erzeugt. Es wird gezeigt, dass Graphen den Fluoreszenzuntergrund der untersuchten Farbstoffmoleküle deutlich reduziert und zusätzlich deren Photostabilität gegenüber der eintreffenden Laserstrahlung effektiv verbessert. KW - DNA origami KW - surface-enhanced Raman scattering KW - DNA nanostructures KW - graphene KW - single-molecule detection KW - DNA Origami KW - oberflächenverstärkte Raman-Streuung KW - DNA Nanostrukturen KW - Graphen KW - Einzelmoleküldetektion Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-104089 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kogikoski Junior, Sergio A1 - Tapio, Kosti A1 - Edler von Zander, Robert A1 - Saalfrank, Peter A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Raman enhancement of nanoparticle dimers self-assembled using DNA origami nanotriangles JF - Molecules : a journal of synthetic chemistry and natural product chemistry / Molecular Diversity Preservation International N2 - Surface-enhanced Raman scattering is a powerful approach to detect molecules at very low concentrations, even up to the single-molecule level. One important aspect of the materials used in such a technique is how much the signal is intensified, quantified by the enhancement factor (EF). Herein we obtained the EFs for gold nanoparticle dimers of 60 and 80 nm diameter, respectively, self-assembled using DNA origami nanotriangles. Cy5 and TAMRA were used as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) probes, which enable the observation of individual nanoparticles and dimers. EF distributions are determined at four distinct wavelengths based on the measurements of around 1000 individual dimer structures. The obtained results show that the EFs for the dimeric assemblies follow a log-normal distribution and are in the range of 10(6) at 633 nm and that the contribution of the molecular resonance effect to the EF is around 2, also showing that the plasmonic resonance is the main source of the observed signal. To support our studies, FDTD simulations of the nanoparticle's electromagnetic field enhancement has been carried out, as well as calculations of the resonance Raman spectra of the dyes using DFT. We observe a very close agreement between the experimental EF distribution and the simulated values. KW - surface-enhanced Raman scattering KW - DNA origami KW - resonance Raman KW - scattering KW - nanoparticle dimers Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26061684 SN - 1420-3049 VL - 26 IS - 6 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cui, Qianling A1 - Yashchenok, Alexey A1 - Zhang, Lu A1 - Li, Lidong A1 - Masic, Admir A1 - Wienskol, Gabriele A1 - Moehwald, Helmuth A1 - Bargheer, Matias T1 - Fabrication of Bifunctional Gold/Gelatin Hybrid Nanocomposites and Their Application JF - ACS applied materials & interfaces N2 - Herein, a facile method is presented to integrate large gold nanoflowers (similar to 80 nm) and small gold nanoparticles (2-4 nm) into a single entity, exhibiting both surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and catalytic activity. The as-prepared gold nanoflowers were coated by a gelatin layer, in which the gold precursor was adsorbed and in situ reduced into small gold nanoparticles. The thickness of the gelatin shell is controlled to less than 10 nm, ensuring that the small gold nanoparticles are still in a SERS-active range of the inner Au core. Therefore, the reaction catalyzed by these nanocomposites can be monitored in situ using label-free SERS spectroscopy. In addition, these bifunctional nanocomposites are also attractive candidates for application in SERS monitoring of bioreactions because of their excellent biocompatibility. KW - core-shell nanostructure KW - gold KW - hybrid material KW - gelatin KW - nanoparticles KW - surface-enhanced Raman scattering Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/am5000068 SN - 1944-8244 VL - 6 IS - 3 SP - 1999 EP - 2002 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cui, Qianling A1 - Shen, Guizhi A1 - Yan, Xuehai A1 - Li, Lidong A1 - Moehwald, Helmuth A1 - Bargheer, Matias T1 - Fabrication of Au@Pt multibranched nanoparticles and their application to in situ SERS monitoring JF - ACS applied materials & interfaces N2 - Here, we present an Au@Pt core-shell multibranched nanoparticle as a new substrate capable of in situ surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), thereby enabling monitoring of the catalytic reaction on the active surface. By careful control of the amount of Pt deposited bimetallic Au@Pt, nanoparticles with moderate performance both for SERS and catalytic activity were obtained. The Pt-catalyzed reduction of 4-nitrothiophenol by borohydride was chosen as the model reaction. The intermediate during the reaction was captured and clearly identified via SERS spectroscopy. We established in situ SERS spectroscopy as a promising and powerful technique to investigate in situ reactions taking place in heterogeneous catalysis. KW - nanoparticles KW - gold KW - core-shell nanostructure KW - surface-enhanced Raman scattering KW - heterogeneous catalysis KW - bimetallic nanoparticles Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/am504709a SN - 1944-8244 VL - 6 IS - 19 SP - 17075 EP - 17081 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER -