Preparation and application of microfluidic SERS substrate: Challenges and future perspectives

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), as a highly sensitive molecular analysis technique, can realize fast and non-destructive detection of the information of molecular bonds to identify the component of analytes by “fingerprint” identification. The preparation of SERS substrates plays an extremely important role in the development of SERS technology and the application of SERS detection. By integrating SERS enhancement substrates into microfluidic chips, researchers have developed the microfluidic SERS chips which expand the function of microfluidic chips and provide an efficient platform for on-site biochemical analysis equipped with the powerful sensing capability of SERS technique. In this paper, we will first briefly give a review of the current microfluidic SERS-active substrates preparation technology and present the perspective on the application prospects of microfluidic SERS-active substrates. And then the challenges in the preparation of microfluidic SERS-active substrates will be pointed out, as well as realistic issues of using this technology for biochemical application.