Superhydrophobic surface enhanced Raman scattering sensing using Janus particle arrays realized by site-specific electrochemical growth

Site-specific electrochemical deposition is used to prepare polystyrene (PS)-Ag Janus particle arrays with superhydrophobic properties. The analyte molecules can be significantly enriched using the superhydrophobic property of the PS-Ag Janus particle array before SERS detections, enabling an extremely sensitive detection of molecules in a highly diluted solution (<i>e.g.</i>, femtomolar level). This superhydrophobic surface enhanced Raman scattering sensing concept described here is of critical significance in biosensing and bioanalysis. Most importantly, the site-specific electrochemical growth method we developed here is a versatile approach that can be used to prepare Janus particle arrays with different properties for various applications.