Dongchang Yang

Dongchang’s MSc research, co-supervised by Mark Servos and Dr. Xu (Shine) Zhang at Cape Breton University, focused on advancing Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) for environmental and analytical applications. His work examined both fundamental enhancement mechanisms and practical detection challenges, with particular emphasis on how solvent environments influence SERS sensitivity and performance.

A significant component of his research involved a comprehensive review of current SERS metal-based sensors, with emphasis on signal generation mechanisms (electromagnetic and chemical enhancement), sensitivity improvements enabled through nanotechnology, and ongoing challenges associated with quantitative analysis in complex environmental samples. This review also identified key gaps in the literature, particularly the limited systematic understanding of solvent effects in SERS-based detection of environmental contaminants such as heavy metals.

The experimental component of his thesis investigated how solvents with differing dielectric constants alter SERS detection efficiency. His results showed that low dielectric constant organic solvents (e.g., methylene chloride, ε = 9.93) can increase SERS sensitivity by approximately 10⁹–10¹⁰ times, enabling detection of analytes at zeptamolar concentrations. Computational modelling supported these findings, indicating enhanced electromagnetic coupling in low dielectric environments through stronger plasmon interactions.

Overall, his MSc research provided new insight into solvent-dependent SERS enhancement mechanisms and highlighted their potential to significantly improve analytical sensitivity for environmental applications, particularly in trace contaminant detection.