Plasmon enhanced spectroscopies provide multiple modalities and new approaches for biomolecules

PHYS 81

Janardan Kundu, janardan@rice.edu1, Oara Neumann1, Carly S Levin1, Dongmao Zhang1, Aoune Barhoumi1, Jeffrey D. Hartgerink, jdh@rice.edu2, and Naomi J. Halas, halas@rice.edu3. (1) Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, (2) Department of Chemistry and Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, (3) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Deparment of Chemistry, Rice University, MS-366, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251
Recent advances in nanophotonics can be applied directly to the development of new and specifically designed substrates for surface enhanced spectroscopies. We have recently shown that nanoshell-based substrates can be developed for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), surface enhanced Infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRA), and for combining these two spectroscopies as SERS-SEIRA. The highly regular and highly reproducible spectra resulting from this designed-nanoparticle substrate fabrication approach allows the investigator to begin to address more complex chemical studies, such as biomolecules, where molecular conformation may strongly affect the spectroscopic reproducibility. In the studies we report here we examine how biomolecules can begin to reveal new properties on these highly controlled substrates, and how conformational change or disorder of adsorbate molecules may itself prove to be an important indicator useful for examining molecular structure or binding processes.
 

Spectroscopy, Chemistry, and Imaging through Nanophotonics
1:20 PM-5:20 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Rm. 340/341, Oral

Division of Physical Chemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008