What you need to know: Raman spectroscopy can be enhanced to be more sensitive in detecting chemicals through the use of nanoparticles with sharper edges and cavities. Silver nanoparticle “flowers” developed at Laurier show the most promising results for the optimal enhancement of this diagnostic testing

Kitaev, Vladimir

Ritter (nee Cathcart), Nicole

English

Scholars Commons

Wilfrid Laurier University 
Scholars Commons @ Laurier 
Clear Language Summaries 
Spring 5-24-2013 
Flower-shaped nanoparticles improve sensitivity of chemical 
detection 
Vladimir Kitaev 
Wilfrid Laurier University, vkitaev@wlu.ca 
Nicole Ritter (nee Cathcart) 
Wilfrid Laurier University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/clearlanguage 
 Part of the Chemistry Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Wilfrid Laurier University (2013). Flower-shaped silver nanoparticles improve sensitivity of spectroscopic 
detection of various chemicals. Retrieved at http://scholars.wlu.ca/clearlanguage 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Clear Language Summaries by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more 
information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca. 
Raman spectroscopy can be en-
hanced to be more sensitive in de-
tecting chemicals through the use of 
nanoparticles with sharper edges 
and    cavities.  Silver nanoparticle 
“flowers” developed at Laurier 
show the most promising   results 
for the optimal enhancement of this  
diagnostic testing. 
 Medical Diagnostics tool developers can 
use these nanoparticles for developing 
supersensitive tests for cancer, genetic 
and heart diseases. 
 Analytical chemists can use these 
“nanoflowers” to detect very small quan-
tities of chemicals in the environment 
(e.g. wastewater) or in production pro-
cesses (e.g. in drug manufacturing).  
 Optics engineers can use this research to 
further develop novel optical devices. 
What you need to know: 
How can you use this research? 
Flower-shaped nanoparticles improve      
sensitivity of chemical detection 
Vladimir Kitaev and his team started by producing silver 
nanoparticles shaped as prismatic polygons in aqueous so-
lution. These nanoparticles were less valuable for Raman 
spectroscopy. They then found that when large amounts of 
chloride ions were added during the formation, ions would 
freely bind to the centers of the prism edges, incompletely 
blocking further binding of new silver ions. This occurred 
everywhere except for the triangular tips of the prisms. 
Subsequent silver ions preferred to bind to these unprotect-
ed corners and thus “petals” grew from the corners.  
These particles are flower-shaped when observed under an 
electron microscope. Because the nanoparticle “petals” 
have many well defined edges and cavities (see image), 
they are the best choice for increasing the sensitivity of Ra-
man spectroscopy to unprecedented levels. 
Length and definition of “petals” could be exactly con-
trolled by varying the growing conditions. Nanoparticles 
with petal sizes that matched the length of the Raman laser 
light wavelengths were the best performers for enhancing 
the sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy.  
What did the researcher find? 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License  
Vladimir Kitaev is an Associate Professor with 
the Department of Chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier 
University. Nicole Ritter (neé Cathcart) is a   
Research Associate with Kitaev’s Group.   
vkitaev@wlu.ca   
This summary is part of a project between the 
Knowledge Mobilization Unit and Scholars 
Commons at Wilfrid Laurier University, and 
the Knowledge Mobilization Unit at York 
University.  Laurier promotes the use of 
knowledge mobilization to maximize the     
impact of Laurier research on professional 
practice, public policy, and community         
engagement. Written by O. Stukalov, S. 
Reibling.    
www.wlu.ca/clearlanguage 
Vladimir Kitaev, a professor of chemistry at 
Wilfrid Laurier University, and his research 
team used simple aqueous chemistry, in well-
defined conditions, to grow different shapes of 
silver nanoparticles. These shapes included 
rods, several platonic solids and multifaceted 
prisms. Many of these faceted prisms are beauti-
fully flower-shaped.  
Wilfrid Laurier University (2013). Flower-
shaped silver nanoparticles improve sensitivity 
of spectroscopic detection of various chemicals.  
Retrieved at http://scholars.wlu.ca/clearlanguage 
Cathcart, N., and Kitaev, V. (2012). Multifacet-
ed prismatic silver nanoparticles: synthesis by 
chloride-directed selective growth from thiolate-
protected clusters and SERS properties.          
Nanoscale, 4, 6981-6989.   
What did the researchers do? 
About the Laurier researchers: 
Cite this work: 
Article citation: 
Silver nanoparticles, chemical detection, Raman 
Spectroscopy, nanoflowers, medical diagnostics. 
Keywords: 
Finding trace amounts of chemicals in the water 
and air around or inside our bodies can be accu-
rately and quickly done using Raman spectros-
copy. Raman Spectroscopy is an optical tech-
nique that involves shining a particular type of 
laser light onto sample (liquid or solid) and de-
tecting the amount of reflected light with wave-
lengths different from the laser’s original wave-
length.  
However, when the amount of the chemical be-
ing detected is very low, detection by Raman 
spectroscopy is not sensitive enough. Therefore, 
more expensive and labour intensive detection 
techniques are required. 
Researchers have now found that if they com-
bine samples with noble metal nanoparticles, 
especially silver, it is possible to increase the 
sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy and avoid 
more costly testing.  
Pushing this technique to new limits, chemistry 
researchers from Laurier have developed an in-
novative process for “growing” unique silver 
nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are 100 times larger 
than atoms and 100,000 times smaller than an 
ant.  
What is this research about? 


Flower-shaped nanoparticles improve sensitivity of chemical detection

Wilfrid Laurier University

Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Clear Language Summaries Spring 5-24-2013 Flower-shaped nanoparticles improve sensitivity of chemical detection Vladimir Kitaev Wilfrid Laurier University, vkitaev@wlu.ca Nicole Ritter (nee Cathcart) Wilfrid Laurier University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/clearlanguage  Part of the Chemistry Commons Recommended Citation Wilfrid Laurier University (2013). Flower-shaped silver nanoparticles improve sensitivity of spectroscopic detection of various chemicals. Retrieved at http://scholars.wlu.ca/clearlanguage This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Clear Language Summaries by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca. Raman spectroscopy can be en-hanced to be more sensitive in de-tecting chemicals through the use of nanoparticles with sharper edges and    cavities.  Silver nanoparticle “flowers” developed at Laurier show the most promising   results for the optimal enhancement of this  diagnostic testing.  Medical Diagnostics tool developers can use these nanoparticles for developing supersensitive tests for cancer, genetic and heart diseases.  Analytical chemists can use these “nanoflowers” to detect very small quan-tities of chemicals in the environment (e.g. wastewater) or in production pro-cesses (e.g. in drug manufacturing).   Optics engineers can use this research to further develop novel optical devices. What you need to know: How can you use this research? Flower-shaped nanoparticles improve      sensitivity of chemical detection Vladimir Kitaev and his team started by producing silver nanoparticles shaped as prismatic polygons in aqueous so-lution. These nanoparticles were less valuable for Raman spectroscopy. They then found that when large amounts of chloride ions were added during the formation, ions would freely bind to the centers of the prism edges, incompletely blocking further binding of new silver ions. This occurred everywhere except for the triangular tips of the prisms. Subsequent silver ions preferred to bind to these unprotect-ed corners and thus “petals” grew from the corners.  These particles are flower-shaped when observed under an electron microscope. Because the nanoparticle “petals” have many well defined edges and cavities (see image), they are the best choice for increasing the sensitivity of Ra-man spectroscopy to unprecedented levels. Length and definition of “petals” could be exactly con-trolled by varying the growing conditions. Nanoparticles with petal sizes that matched the length of the Raman laser light wavelengths were the best performers for enhancing the sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy.  What did the researcher find? This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License  Vladimir Kitaev is an Associate Professor with the Department of Chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University. Nicole Ritter (neé Cathcart) is a   Research Associate with Kitaev’s Group.   vkitaev@wlu.ca   This summary is part of a project between the Knowledge Mobilization Unit and Scholars Commons at Wilfrid Laurier University, and the Knowledge Mobilization Unit at York University.  Laurier promotes the use of knowledge mobilization to maximize the     impact of Laurier research on professional practice, public policy, and community         engagement. Written by O. Stukalov, S. Reibling.    www.wlu.ca/clearlanguage Vladimir Kitaev, a professor of chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University, and his research team used simple aqueous chemistry, in well-defined conditions, to grow different shapes of silver nanoparticles. These shapes included rods, several platonic solids and multifaceted prisms. Many of these faceted prisms are beauti-fully flower-shaped.  Wilfrid Laurier University (2013). Flower-shaped silver nanoparticles improve sensitivity of spectroscopic detection of various chemicals.  Retrieved at http://scholars.wlu.ca/clearlanguage Cathcart, N., and Kitaev, V. (2012). Multifacet-ed prismatic silver nanoparticles: synthesis by chloride-directed selective growth from thiolate-protected clusters and SERS properties.          Nanoscale, 4, 6981-6989.   What did the researchers do? About the Laurier researchers: Cite this work: Article citation: Silver nanoparticles, chemical detection, Raman Spectroscopy, nanoflowers, medical diagnostics. Keywords: Finding trace amounts of chemicals in the water and air around or inside our bodies can be accu-rately and quickly done using Raman spectros-copy. Raman Spectroscopy is an optical tech-nique that involves shining a particular type of laser light onto sample (liquid or solid) and de-tecting the amount of reflected light with wave-lengths different from the laser’s original wave-length.  However, when the amount of the chemical be-ing detected is very low, detection by Raman spectroscopy is not sensitive enough. Therefore, more expensive and labour intensive detection techniques are required. Researchers have now found that if they com-bine samples with noble metal nanoparticles, especially silver, it is possible to increase the sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy and avoid more costly testing.  Pushing this technique to new limits, chemistry researchers from Laurier have developed an in-novative process for “growing” unique silver nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are 100 times larger than atoms and 100,000 times smaller than an ant.  What is this research about? 

https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&amp;context=clearlanguage

Flower-shaped nanoparticles improve sensitivity of chemical detection

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