An intelligent alkyne-tag for Raman imaging of living cells: graphdiyne-encapsulated Au nanospheres

A new graphdiyne-encapsulated Au nanosphere (Au@GDY) material was fabricated, which possessed an amplified Raman signal of acetylene linkage and produced bright, stable, and distinct signals in the cellular Raman-silent region. Its signal repeatability is far superior to that of alkyne-containing molecules. This work provides promise as an alkyne-tag for Raman imaging of living cells.