Research Progress of Preparing Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Active Substrates by Printing Technologies

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an advanced surface analysis technique that can enhance the vibrational spectrum of molecules adsorbed on or in the vicinity of metal surfaces enormously. Due to its high speed, accuracy, high sensitivity, good selectivity and minimum requirements for sample preparation, SERS technique becomes the current research hotspot and shows important application prospects in the fields of chemistry, food, biology, medical treatment, etc. However, it is known that the uniformity, reproducibility and stability of SERS active substrates are still main challenges to be overcome for the use of SERS technique as a routine analytical tool. The printing methods have the advantages of simple operation, high efficiency and low cost, which are useful for designing plasmonic nanostructures. In recent years, printing technologies have been gradually applied to the preparation of SERS substrates. By optimizing the amount of hot spots to enhance the electromagnetic field, SERS active substrate with good repeatability, high stability and strong enhancement ability can be obtained. In this work, several common printing techniques for preparing SERS substrates are reviewed, including inkjet printing, gravure printing and screen printing. The influence of factors on SERS performance is analyzed, such as surface wettability of substrate, drying temperature, ink viscosity, surface tension and solvent. The research progresses of preparing SERS substrates by printing technologies are summarized, and the potential applications and future development are also prospected.