US2009121193A1PendingUtilityA1

Surface enhanced spectroscopy-active composite nanoparticles

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Assignee: OXONICA INCPriority: Oct 6, 1999Filed: Oct 3, 2008Published: May 14, 2009
Est. expiryOct 6, 2019(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Michael J. Natan
B22F 1/16B22F 1/102B22F 1/056B22F 1/054B22F 1/07G01N 33/58G01N 33/543G01N 33/553B22F 2304/056G01J 3/44B22F 2998/00B82Y 30/00G01N 33/54346B22F 2304/054B22F 2301/255Y10T436/13G01N 21/658
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Claims

Abstract

Metal nanoparticles associated with a spectroscopy-active (e.g., Raman-active) analyte and surrounded by an encapsulant are useful as sensitive optical tags detectable by surface-enhanced spectroscopy (e.g., surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy).

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 . A particle comprising:
 a surface-enhanced spectroscopy (SES)-active metal nanoparticle;   a SES-active label associated with said SES-active metal nanoparticle; and   an encapsulant surrounding said SES-active metal nanoparticle and said spectroscopy-active label, wherein said encapsulant comprises a material selected from the group consisting of glass, polymers, metals, metal oxides, and metal sulfides, and wherein said particle has a measurable SES spectrum.   
   
   
       2 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said metal nanoparticle comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Cu, Na, Al, and Cr. 
   
   
       3 . The particle of  claim 2 , wherein said metal nanoparticle comprises Au. 
   
   
       4 . The particle of  claim 2 , wherein said metal nanoparticle comprises Ag. 
   
   
       5 . The particle of  claim 1  wherein said metal nanoparticle comprises an alloy of metals selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Cu, Na, Al, and Cr. 
   
   
       6 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said metal nanoparticle has a diameter less than about 200 nm. 
   
   
       7 . The particle of  claim 6 , wherein said metal nanoparticle has a diameter between about 20 nm and about 200 nm. 
   
   
       8 . The particle of  claim 7 , wherein said metal nanoparticle has a diameter between about 40 nm and about 100 nm. 
   
   
       9 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said metal nanoparticle is a sphere. 
   
   
       10 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said metal nanoparticle is an oblate sphereoid. 
   
   
       11 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said metal nanoparticle is a prolate spheroid. 
   
   
       12 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said encapsulant has a thickness less than about 1 micron. 
   
   
       13 . The particle of  claim 12 , wherein said encapsulant has a thickness between about 1 nm and about 40 nm. 
   
   
       14 . The particle of  claim 13 , wherein said encapsulant has a thickness between about 5 nm and about 15 nm. 
   
   
       15 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said encapsulant comprises a plurality of materials. 
   
   
       16 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said encapsulant comprises glass (SiO x ). 
   
   
       17 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said encapsulant comprises TiO 2 . 
   
   
       18 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said spectroscopy-active label forms a partial monolayer coating on said metal nanoparticle. 
   
   
       19 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said spectroscopy-active label forms a monolayer coating on said metal nanoparticle. 
   
   
       20 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said spectroscopy-active label forms a multilayer coating on said metal nanoparticle. 
   
   
       21 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said measurable SES spectrum is a spectrum obtained by a method selected from the group consisting of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy, surface-enhanced hyperRaman spectroscopy, surface-enhanced resonance hyperRaman spectroscopy, and surface-enhanced infared spectroscopy. 
   
   
       22 . The particle of  claim 1 , wherein said spectroscopy-active analyte is an aromatic analyte. 
   
   
       23 . A particle comprising:
 a surface-enhanced spectroscopy (SES) active metal nanoparticle;   an aromatic label adsorbed on the surface of said (SES) active metal nanoparticle; and   an encapsulant surrounding said (SES) active metal nanoparticle and said aromatic label, wherein said encapsulant comprises a material selected from the group consisting of glass, polymers, metals, metal oxides, and metal sulfides.   
   
   
       24 . The particle of  claim 23 , wherein said metal nanoparticle comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Cu, Na, Al, and Cr. 
   
   
       25 . The particle of  claim 23 , wherein said metal nanoparticle has a diameter less than about 200 nm. 
   
   
       26 . The particle of  claim 25 , wherein said metal nanoparticle has a diameter of between about 20 nm and about 200 nm. 
   
   
       27 . The particle of  claim 26 , wherein said metal nanoparticle has a diameter of between about 40 nm and about 100 nm. 
   
   
       28 . The particle of  claim 23  wherein said encapsulant has a thickness less than about 1 micron. 
   
   
       29 . The particle of  claim 28  wherein said encapsulant has a thickness of about 1 nm and about 40 nm. 
   
   
       30 . The particle of  claim 29  wherein said encapsulant has a thickness of between about 5 nm and about 15 nm.

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