Wu, JianLi, WeiHajisalem, GhazalLukach, AriellaKumacheva, EugeniaHof, FraserGordon, Reuven2016-04-222016-04-2220142014-11Wu, J., Li, W., Hajisalem, G., Lukach, A., Kumacheva, E., Hof, F. & Gordon, R. (2014). Trace cancer biomarker quantification using polystyrene-functionalized gold nanorods. Biomedical Optics Express, 5(12), 4101-4107.http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/BOE.5.004101http://hdl.handle.net/1828/7175We demonstrate the application of polystyrene-functionalized gold nanorods (AuNRs) as a platform for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) quantification of the exogenous cancer biomarker Acetyl Amantadine (AcAm). We utilize the hydrophobicity of the polystyrene attached to the AuNR surface to capture the hydrophobic AcAm from solution, followed by drying and detection using SERS. We achieve a detection limit of 16 ng/mL using this platform. This result shows clinical potential for low-cost early cancer detection.enSurface-enhanced Raman scatteringSurface plasmonsOptical sensing and sensorsArticleDepartment of Electrical and Computer EngineeringDepartment of Chemistry