Multifunctional Ag-decorated core-shell heterojunction of red phosphorus/silicon carbide nanowires for highly sensitive SERS-based monitoring of ibrutinib

In this work, an innovative kind of red phosphorus (RP)-encapsulated silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires (NWs) with interface heterojunctions were developed through a conventional Muffle calcination strategy. After being decorated with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with the help of an ion sputtering technique, a hybrid surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate based on SiC@RP@Ag NWs was prepared and applied in the clinical monitoring of ibrutinib. The powerful “hotspots” region was demonstrated by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation to extensively distribute on the surface Ag layer, which triggered significant electromagnetic enhancement. Moreover, the separation and transfer of charge carrier with high efficiency rendered the substrate a supplementary chemical enhancement ascribed to the appropriate energy level of the heterojunction structure. Henceforth, the lowest limit of detection for ibrutinib was found to reach 7.58 × 10−8 mg/mL. Ultimately, the real-time SERS diagnostic of ibrutinib in serum samples demonstrated relative low deviation, not exceeding 6.6 %. The hybrid SERS substrate based on SiC@RP@Ag NWs provides more possibilities for clinical drug diagnostics.