Instantaneous preparation of gold-carbon dot nanocomposites for on-site SERS identification of pathogens in diverse interfaces

• Yanxian Guo, Ye Liu, Chaocai Luo, Yue Zhang, Yang Li, Fei Zhou, Zhou Guo, Zhengfei Zhuang, and ZhinMing Liu
• received 02/26/2024; accepted 04/15/2024; posted 04/15/2024; Doc. ID 522216
• Abstract: Herein, a facile and instantaneous synthetic route was firstly developed for grown Au core in molybdenum-doped gallic acid-derived carbon dots (Au@MCDs) shell without extrinsic reductant. The nanocomposites exhibited exceptional surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity towards common organic pollutants by the synergistic effect of electromagnetic enhancement and charge transfer. The approach further enables the sensitive and reproducible foodborne pathogen detection in practical samples with anisotropic surfaces with a significant reduction in on-site detection time (within 5 min). Finally, the molecular fingerprint analysis and 3D PCA analysis of foodborne pathogen based on Au@MCDs was also completed, indicating the promising potential for widespread applications in biomedical research and clinical diagnostics.