Polydopamine-enabled surface coating with nano-metals

Current processes for surface coating by nano-metals must be performed at extreme conditions and require the use of sophisticated instruments. Herein, we developed a new method of polydopamine (PDA)-enabled surface coating with nano-metals by combining PDA surface coating and PDA-enabled metal ions reduction with PDA removal by argon plasma afterwards. The size and density of the metal nanoparticles (MNPs) could be tuned easily by controlling the amount (and thickness) of PDA coating layers, metal ions concentration, and reduction time as demonstrated in surface coating with silver or gold nanoparticles. Resulting MNPs coated surfaces were characterized through scanning electron microscope (SEM), spectrophotometer, and X-ray Diffractometer (XRD). One application in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to detect rhodamine 6 G (R6G) molecule is demonstrated. This new and simple technology of polydopamine-enabled surface coating with nano-metals should have wide applications.