Transparent and Flexible Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Substrates with High SERS Performance and Stability

This paper presents a polymer-brush-guided templating strategy for fabricating ordered gold plasmonic architectures. The synthesized nanostructures featuring densely packed Au nanoparticles (NPs) exhibited strong surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity. Using a simple mechanical transfer technique, these assemblies were integrated into flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films. Polymer encapsulation during synthesis ensures structural integrity during processing, resulting in a mechanically robust SERS substrate with exceptional analytical performance. This platform achieved 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) detection at 100 pmol/L (10^-10 mol/L) with high reproducibility (RSD=6.8%). Environmental and mechanical stability tests demonstrated 95% signal retention over 30 days and sustained functionality after 100 bending/twisting cycles. Combined with a non-destructive adhesion-transfer protocol, the substrate enabled on-site thiram detection on apple surfaces (1 μmol/L limit). This study provides a scalable approach for developing flexible SERS devices for food safety monitoring and environmental analysis.