153590 20251017144606.0 doi 10.1016/j.surfin.2025.106415 sideral 143730 ART-2025-143730 eng Zappalà, Giulia Atomic layer deposition of hafnium dioxide for increasing temporal stability of silver-capped silicon nanopillar substrates used for SERS 2025 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a label-free optical method employed due to its sensitivity and specificity. Metal nanoparticles are commonly used as SERS substrates for detection of molecules and any change in the metal affect the SERS performance. Silver (Ag) is a renowned plasmonic material, but it presents relatively poor chemical stability. The application of thin surface coatings has been recognized as an effective approach to enhance the chemical stability of Ag nanostructures, while preserving their desirable sensitivity. Therefore, in this study 0–13 nm thick hafnium dioxide (HfO2) coatings, deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD), have been investigated to improve the temporal stability of Ag-capped silicon nanopillar (NP) SERS substrates. Comprehensive characterization was performed, and the SERS performance were evaluated with two reporter molecules on uncoated Ag-capped NP substrates. They displayed significant variation over time, while substrates with ∼1.5 nm HfO2 exhibited superior signal stability and noise reduction. Over a 5-month period, substrate stability was tested for detection of the nitroaromatic explosive 2,4-dinitrophenol. The limit of detection (LoD) and limit of quantification (LoQ) of uncoated Ag-capped NPs varied significantly, whereas HfO2-coated substrates maintained a stable SERS performance with limited variation in the LoD and LoQ, thereby ensuring consistent results. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/883390/EU/Advanced Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) based technologies for gas and liquids sensING in the area of chemical protection/SERSing This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 883390-SERSing info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Thamdrup, Lasse Højlund Eklund Abbaspourmani, AmirAli Dumont, Elodie Wu, Kaiyu Shkondin, Evgeniy Mallada, Reyes Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-4758-9380 Pina, Maria Pilar Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-9897-6527 Rindzevicius, Tomas Boisen, Anja 5005 555 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ing.Quím.Tecnol.Med.Amb. Área Ingeniería Química 64 (2025), 106415 [11 pp.] Surfaces and Interfaces 2468-0230 7884971 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/153590/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2487068 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/153590/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:153590 articulos driver 2025-10-17-14:15:23 ARTICLE