Vacancy-Engineered MoO 3 /TiO 2 Heterojunctions for High- Performance SERS Detection of Organic Contaminants
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The construction of semiconductor heterojunctions is a viable approach for enhancing charge separation and improving the SERS performance of semiconductor substrates. In this work, a MoO 3 /TiO 2 (MT) heterojunction SERS substrate was developed by integrating oxygen-vacancy-rich molybdenum oxide with titanium dioxide. The optimized MT substrate achieved an ultralow detection limit of 10 − 10 M for methylene blue (MB) with an enhancement factor as high as 8.09 × 10 9 . The superior SERS activity of the MT arises from the synergistic contributions of oxygen vacancies and heterojunction coupling. Oxygen vacancies in MoO 3 facilitate strong adsorption of target molecules and provide efficient pathways for photogenerated electron migration, while the band alignment between TiO 2 and MoO 3 promotes effective charge separation. Together, these effects significantly boost the SERS sensitivity, stability, and reliability of the substrate. The proposed MoO 3 /TiO 2 system provides a robust and cost-effective platform for ultrasensitive detection of organic pollutants, showing enormous application potential in environmental monitoring and public safety.
