Sam-Jin Choi
Kyung Hee University · Medicine
About the Lab
Professor Sam-Jin Choi's research lab specializes in the development of advanced plasmonic nanomaterials and paper-based biosensors for point-of-care diagnostics. The lab focuses on designing highly sensitive, reproducible, and low-cost surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platforms using nanostructured substrates such as ZnO nanorods, cellulose paper, and flexible graphite, often functionalized with gold or silver nanoparticles. Key research directions include the integration of SERS with machine learning and multivariate statistical analysis for early detection of diseases—such as asymptomatic breast cancer and prenatal disorders—directly from biological fluids like tears and amniotic fluid. The lab also explores novel fabrication techniques like the successive ionic layer absorption and reaction (SILAR) method to enable scalable, power-free, and uniform nanostructure synthesis.
Research Overview
Research Output Trend
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Selected Papers
15Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an ultrasensitive molecular screening technique with greatly enhanced Raman scattering signals from trace amounts of analytes near plasmonic nanostructures. However, research on the development of a sensor that balances signal enhancement, reproducibility, and uniformity has not yet been proposed for practical applications. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of the practical application for detecting or predicting asymptomatic breast cancer fr
We report the development of a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy sensor chip by decorating gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on ZnO nanorod (ZnO NR) arrays vertically grown on cellulose paper (C). We show that these chips can enhance the Raman signal by 1.25 × 10<sup>7</sup> with an excellent reproducibility of <6%. We show that we can measure trace amounts of human amniotic fluids of patients with subclinical intra-amniotic infection (IAI) and preterm delivery (PTD) using the chip in combination wit
We introduce a novel, facile, rapid, low-cost, highly reproducible, and power-free synthesizable fabrication method of paper-based silver nanoparticle (AgNP) immersed surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platform, known as the successive ionic layer absorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The rough and porous properties of the paper led to direct synthesis of AgNPs on the surface as well as in the paper due to capillary effects, resulting in improved plasmon coupling with interparticles and
The formation of spinel oxide has been investigated by chemically extracting lithium with the oxidizing agent from three samples of that were synthesized at 400, 600, and 800°C to obtain followed by heat-treatment at 200°C. The samples have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic absorption spectroscopy, and a redox titration to determine the oxygen content. While the sample obtained from the crystallizes in the normal cubic spinel structure with a cation distribution of that obtained fr
Gold-decorated, vertically grown ZnO nanorods (NRs) on a flexible graphite sheet (Au/ZnONRs/G) were developed for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based biosensing to identify trace amounts of human aqueous humors. This Au/ZnONRs/G SERS-functionalized sensor was fabricated via two steps: hydrothermal synthesis-induced growth of ZnO NRs on graphite sheets for nanostructure fabrication, followed by e-beam evaporator-induced gold metallization on ZnONRs/G for SERS functionalization. The thi
We introduce a label-free biosensing cellulose strip sensor with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-encoded bimetallic core@shell nanoparticles. Bimetallic nanoparticles consisting of a synthesis of core Ag nanoparticles (AgNP) and a synthesis of shell gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were fabricated on a cellulose substrate by two-stage successive ionic layer absorption and reaction (SILAR) techniques. The bimetallic nanoparticle-enhanced localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effects wer
We introduce a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-functionalized, gold nanoparticle (GNP)-deposited paper strip capable of label-free biofluid sensing for the early detection of infectious eye diseases. The GNP biosensing paper strip was fabricated by the direct synthesis and deposition of GNPs on wax-divided hydrophilic areas of a permeable porous substrate through a facile, power-free synthesizable, and highly reproducible successive ionic layer absorption and reaction (SILAR) technique.
Cell culture and polymerase chain reaction are currently regarded as the gold standard for adenoviral conjunctivitis diagnosis. They maximize sensitivity and specificity but require several days to 3 weeks to get the results. The aim of this study is to determine the potential of Raman spectroscopy as a stand-alone analytical tool for clinical diagnosis of adenoviral conjunctivitis using human tear fluids. A drop-coating deposition surface enhanced Raman scattering (DCD-SERS) method was identifi
Research Areas
Dive deeper into Sam-Jin Choi's research on Nubint
Open this lab's papers in the app to read with AI, summarize, and cite in your writing.