Conformal particle coatings on fiber materials for use in spectroscopic methods for detecting targets of interest and methods based thereon

A method for surface-bonding particles to a non-planar surface of a substrate to produce a conformal coating comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a substrate comprising a non-planar surface;
• (b) chemically modifying the non-planar surface to impart a surface charge;
• (c) depositing complementary charged particles on the non-planar surface, and
• (d) functionalizing the surface-bonded metallic particles with one or more species of spectroscopically-active molecules, thereby producing the conformal coating of surface-bonded particles, wherein:
• the surface-bonded particles have cross-sectional diameters of 2-2000 nm,
• the average distance between adjacent surface-bonded particles across the entire non-planar surface is no greater than 10 times the largest cross-sectional dimension of any of the surface-bonded particles, and
• the attachment of the surface-bonded particles to the surface is through electrostatic self-assembly or covalent bonding.

A method for surface-bonding metallic particles to a non-planar surface of a substrate to produce a conformal coating comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a substrate comprising a non-planar surface;
• (b) depositing complementary charged metal ions or complementary charged metal complexes on the non-planar surface;
• (c) treating the complementary charged metal ions or complementary charged metal complexes deposited on the non-planar surface with a treatment selected from the group consisting of treating with a reducing agent, treating with a base or heating;
• and
• (d) functionalizing the surface-bonded metallic particles with one or more species of spectroscopically-active molecules, thereby producing the conformal coating of surface-bonded metallic particles, wherein:
• the surface-bonded particles have cross-sectional diameters of 2-2000 nm,
• the average distance between adjacent surface-bonded particles across the entire non-planar surface is no greater than 10 times the largest cross-sectional dimension of any of the surface-bonded particles, and
• the attachment of the surface-bonded particles to the surface is through electrostatic bonding.

A method for surface-bonding particles to a chemically modified non-planar surface of a substrate to produce a conformal coating comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a substrate comprising a chemically modified non-planar surface;
• and
• (b) covalently attaching chemically functional particles to the chemically modified non-planar surface;
• and
• (c) functionalizing the surface-bonded metallic particles with one or more species of spectroscopically-active molecules, thereby producing the conformal coating of surface-bonded particles, wherein:
• the surface-bonded particles have cross-sectional diameters of 2-2000 nm,
• the average distance between adjacent surface-bonded particles across the entire non-planar surface is no greater than 10 times the largest cross-sectional dimension of any of the surface-bonded particles, and
• the attachment of the surface-bonded particles to the surface is through covalent bonding.

A method for surface-bonding particles to a non-planar surface of a substrate to produce a conformal coating comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a substrate comprising a non-planar surface wherein the non-planar surface comprises hydrogen bond donors/acceptors;
• and
• (b) depositing chemically functional particles on the non-planar surface;
• and
• (c) functionalizing the surface-bonded metallic particles with one or more species of spectroscopically-active molecules, thereby producing the conformal coating of surface-bonded particles, wherein:
• the chemically functional particles comprise hydrogen bond donors/acceptors,
• hydrogen bonding occurs between the hydrogen bond donors/acceptors on the particles and complementary hydrogen bond donors/acceptors on the non-planar surface,
• the surface-bonded particles have cross-sectional diameters of 2-2000 nm,
• the average distance between adjacent surface-bonded particles across the entire non-planar surface is no greater than 10 times the largest cross-sectional dimension of any of the surface-bonded particles, and
• the attachment of the surface-bonded particles to the surface is through electrostatic self-assembly mediated by hydrogen bonding.

A method for surface-bonding particles to a non-planar surface of a substrate to produce a conformal coating comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a substrate comprising a non-planar surface;
• (b) plasma-treating the non-planar surface to impart a surface charge;
• (c) depositing complementary charged particles on the non-planar surface, producing the conformal coating of surface-bonded particles;
• and
• (d) functionalizing the surface-bonded metallic particles with one or more species of spectroscopically-active molecules, thereby producing the conformal coating of surface-bonded particles, wherein:
• the surface-bonded particles have cross-sectional diameters of 2-2000 nm,
• the average distance between adjacent surface-bonded particles across the entire non-planar surface is no greater than 10 times the largest cross-sectional dimension of any of the surface-bonded particles, and
• the attachment of the surface-bonded particles to the surface is through electrostatic self-assembly.

A method for surface-bonding metallic particles to a non-planar surface of a substrate to produce a conformal coating comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a substrate comprising a non-planar surface;
• (b) plasma-treating the non-planar surface to impart a surface charge;
• (c) depositing complementary charged metal ions or complementary charged metal complexes on the non-planar surface;
• (d) treating the complementary charged metal ions or complementary charged metal complexes deposited on the non-planar surface with a treatment selected from the group consisting of treating with a reducing agent, treating with a base or heating;
• and
• (e) functionalizing the surface-bonded metallic particles with one or more species of spectroscopically-active molecules, thereby producing the conformal coating of surface-bonded particles, wherein:
• the surface-bonded particles have cross-sectional diameters of 2-2000 nm,
• the average distance between adjacent surface-bonded particles across the entire non-planar surface is no greater than 10 times the largest cross-sectional dimension of any of the surface-bonded particles, and
• the attachment of the surface-bonded particles to the surface is through electrostatic bonding.