Nanoimprinted cellulose acetate-TiO2 composite thin film

Cellulose acetate is a safe, sustainable, and cost-effective material that is capable of forming nanostructures through facial processing methods such as surface imprinting. Forming optically active structures using cellulose acetate can advance green photonic device design. In this work, we create a hybrid material consisting of nanoscale plasmon active metal–semiconductor Schottky junctions. Demonstrating that such a hybrid material possesses improved performance when applied to Raman-based sensing. Boosting surface-enhanced Raman detection sensitivity through electromagnetic and chemical enhancement mechanisms from the metal-semiconductor junction, in addition to photonic resonances created via the imprinted nanoscale metamaterial array surface features. This work expands the use of cellulose-based materials for sensing-based applications.