Copper micro/nanostructures as effective SERS active substrates for pathogen detection

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) spectroscopy is a multifaceted surface sensitive methodology which exploits spectroscopy-based analysis for various applications. This technique is based on the massive amplification of Raman signals which were feeble previously in order to use them for appropriate identification at qualitative and quantitative in chemical as well as biological systems. This novel powerful technique can be utilized to identify pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. As far as SERS is concerned, one of the most studied problems has been functionalization of SERS active substrate. Metal colloids and nanostructures or microstructures synthesized using noble metals such as Au, Ag and Cu are considered to be SERS active. Silver and gold are extensively used as SERS active substrates due to chemical inertness and stability in air compare to copper. However, use of Cu as a suitable alternative has been taken into account as it is cheap. Herein, we have synthesized air-stable copper microstructures/nanostructures by chemical, electrochemical and microwave-assisted methods. In this paper, we have also discussed the use of as synthesized copper micro/nanostructures as inexpensive yet effective SERS active substrates for the fast identification of micro-organisms like <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> and <i>Escherichia coli</i>.