HOBOKEN, N.J. — A research paper that has potential implications for homeland defense, work place safety, and health care has been published in the Journal of Advanced Materials (volume, issue, 2010) and reported by materialsviews.com. The latter is a materials news service that highlights frontier research appearing in top Wiley journals in the field of materials ranging from the borders of chemistry and physics to the boundaries of life sciences and engineering, and from basic research to cutting-edge applications.
Stevens Institute of Technology’s Dr. Henry Du, Professor and Director of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, together with Dr. Svetlana Sukhishvili, Professor of Chemistry and Co-Director of Stevens’ Nanotechnology Graduate Program, supervised a research team consisting of Yun Han, Siliu Tan, Maung Kyaw Khaing Oo, and Denis Pristinski, and jointly authored the paper “Towards Full-Length Accumulative SERS-active Photonic Crystal Fiber.” The team has pioneered work in the integration of nanotechnology with photonic crystal fibers (PCF) for ultra-sensitive sensing and detection based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). This paper stems from a major research project funded by the National Science Foundation that utilizes molecular and nanoscale surface modification, state-of-the-art laser techniques, and computer simulation for sensor development both from fundamental and applied standpoints.
The Stevens team has demonstrated that PCF optofluidic platform can be endowed the SERS capacity along the entire fiber, a first in the field. The team has shown the competitive interplay between SERS gain and light attenuation as the optical path length increases for PCF containing immobilized Ag nanoparticles, with low particle coverage density being essential for a net accumulative Raman gain throughout the fiber. Key to achieving the SERS-active PCF optofluidic platform lies in the high degree of control of nanoparticle coverage density via polyelectrolyte-based surface modification, which can be applied to PCF of unlimited fiber length.
SERS-active PCF optofluidic platform is inherently easy for system integration, robust in light coupling and harvesting, and unparalleled in optical path length for label-free and sensitive identification, according to Dr. Du. Its potential applications include fundamental studies of chemical, biological, and catalytic interactions in geometrically confined systems; chemical and biological sensing and detection; in situ process and health monitoring.
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University, is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value. Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,234 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with more than 400 faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
For the latest news about Stevens, please visit www.StevensNewsService.com.