Dendrimer‐Based Gold Nanostructures for SERS Detection of Pesticides in Water

Abstract

Dendrimers are polymers with well-defined architec- tures and tunable chemistry, which make them useful in a num- ber of applications. Herein, the chemistry of poly(amido)amine (PAMAM) dendrimers with different functional groups was ex- plored to produce a variety of plasmonic systems based on Au colloidal nanoparticles. The resulting systems present long-term colloidal stability and were investigated as sensitive platforms for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The application of these SERS platforms for the detection of water trace pollu- tants, was explored through the analysis of selected pesticides. Noteworthy, dendrimer coated Au nanoparticles with tunable properties such as size, shape and surface chemistry, were ob- tained by varying the dendrimer chemical properties. The sur- face chemistry of PAMAM capped Au colloids was explored in order to produce target selective SERS substrates for pesticide detection, that allowed to reach detection limits down to 10 nM.