Facile electrochemical surface-alloying and etching of Au wires to enable high-performance substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering

Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy(SERS)is a nondestructive technique for rapid detection of analytes even at the single-molecule level.However,highly sensitive and reliable SERS substrates are mostly fabricated with complex nanofabrication techniques,greatly restricting their practical applications.A convenient electrochemical method for transforming the surface of commercial gold wires/foils into silver-alloyed nanostructures is demonstrated in this report.Au substrates are treated with repetitive anodic and cathodic bias in an electrolyte of thiourea,in a one-pot one-step manner.X-rays absorption fine structure(XAFS)spectroscopy confirms that the AuAg alloy is induced at the surface.The unique AuAg alloyed surface nanostructures are particularly advantageous when served as SERS substrates,enabling a remarkably sensitive detection of Rhodamine B(a detection limit of 10^(-14)M,and uniform strong response throughout the substrates at 10^(-12)M).

Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering on Self-assembled Nano Silver Film Prepared by Electrolysis Method

We demonstrate surface enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） detection of self-assembled nano silver film using a low-cost electrolysis strategy at a proper voltage and silver nitrate concentration in electrolyte. The concentration dependence of SERS from crystal violet （CV） molecules adsorbed to silver film was systematically studied. Importantly, the SERS surface enhancement factor of such nano silver film was 603, which was measured by a portable Raman spectrometer. The minimum concentration of detectable CV molecules can be as low as 10^-11 mol/L. The nano silver film prepared by this electrolysis method is an active, stable, cost-effective, and reusable SERS substrate.

Green synthesis of MIL⁃101/Au composite particles and their sensitivity to Raman detection of thiram

Metal⁃organic framework(MOF)MIL⁃101 and surface plasmon polariton(SPP)supported gold nanoparti⁃cles(Au NPs)hybrid systems were developed as a highly sensitive and reproducible surface⁃enhanced Raman scat⁃tering(SERS)detection platform,in which a green electrostatic self⁃assembly technology was adopted to construct the substrate.In an aqueous solution,the electronegativity of the particles can be used to prepare the composite sub⁃strate without any surface modifier.Due to the enrichment capacity of MIL⁃101 and the electromagnetic enhance⁃ment from Au NPs,the well⁃designed MIL⁃101/Au composites possessed ultrahigh sensitivity with the detection limit of Rhodamine 6G(R6G)as low as 10^(-10) mol·L^(-1).Meanwhile,the substrate exhibits high stability,excellent reproduc⁃ibility,and recyclability.Additionally,the novel substrate can be explored for direct capture,and sensitively detect pesticide residues such as thiram.

Ultrasonic-Assisted Synthesis of Monodisperse Ag Nanoparticles and Their Applications in Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering and Fluorescence Enhancement

Monodisperse Ag nanoparticles with diameters of about 3.4 nm were synthesized by a facile ultrasonic synthetic route at room temperature with the reduction of borane-tert-butylamine in the presence of oleylamine （OAm） and oleic acid （OA）. The reaction parameters of time, the molar ratios of OAm to OA were studied, and it was found that these parameters played important roles in the morphology and size of the products. Meanwhile, surface enhanced Raman spectrum （SERS） property suggested the Ag nanoparticles exhibited high SERS effect on the model molecule Rhodamine 6G. And also, two-photon fluorescence images showed that the silver nanoparticles had high performances in fluorescence enhancement.

Deposition of hexagonal boron nitride thin films on silver nanoparticle substrates and surface enhanced infrared absorption

Silver nanoparticle thin films with different average particle diameters are grown on silicon substrates. Boron nitride thin films are then deposited on the silver nanoparticle interlayers by radio frequency （RF） magnetron sputtering. The boron nitride thin films are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra. The average particle diameters of silver nanoparticle thin films are 126.6, 78.4, and 178.8 nm. The results show that the sizes of the silver nanoparticles have effects on the intensities of infrared spectra of boron nitride thin films. An enhanced infrared absorption is detected for boron nitride thin film grown on silver nanoparticle thin film. This result is helpful to study the growth mechanism of boron nitride thin film.

EFFECT OF SOLVENT ON SURFACE ENHANCED RAMAN SCATTERING SPECTRA OF COLLOIDAL SILVER

The effect of solvent on surface enhanced Raman scattering [SERS) of colloidal silver has been studied. Experiments show that the intensity of SERS is related to the polarity and molecular constitution of the solvent. The influence of solvent is due to the change of the adsorption quantity and adsorption intensity.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering properties of highly ordered self-assemblies of gold nanorods with different aspect ratios

Gold nanorods with aspect ratios of from 1 （particles） to 31.6 were synthesized by the seed-mediated method and packed in a highly ordered structure on a large scale on silicon substrates through capillary force induced self-assembly behaviour during solvent evaporation. The gold nanorod surface exhibits a strong enhancing effect on Raman scattering spectroscopy. The enhancement of Raman scattering for two model molecules （2-naphthalenethiol and rhodamine 6C） is about 5-6 orders of magnitude. By changing the aspect ratio of the Au nanorods, we found that the enhancement factors decreased with the increase of aspect ratios. The observed Raman scattering enhancement is strong and should be ascribed to the surface plasmon coupling between closely packed nanorods, which may result in huge local electromagnetic field enhancements in those confined junctions.

Fast Quantification of the Mixture of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Combined with PLS-GA-BP Network

To realize the fast and accurate quantitative analysis of the mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs),surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy(SERS)coupled with multivariate calibrations were employed.In this study,three kinds of calibration algorithms were used to quantitative analysis of the mixture of naphthalene(Nap),phenanthrene(Phe),and pyrene(Pyr).Firstly,partial least squares(PLS)algorithm was used to select characteristic variables,then the global search capability of genetic algorithm(GA)was used for the determining of the initial weights and thresholds of back propagation(BP)neural network so that local minima was avoided.The PLS-GA-BP model exhibited superiority to quantify PAHs mixture,which achieved R2=0.9975,0.9710,0.9643,ARE=10.07%,19.28%,16.72%and RMSE=13.10,5.40,5.10 nmol L−1 for Nap,Phe,Pyr(in the PAHs mixture)concentration prediction respectively.The forecast error,ARE and RMSE have been reduced more than 50%and 60%respectively compared with the whole spectral BP model.The study indicates that accurate quantitative spectroscopic analysis of the mixture of PAHs samples can be achieved through the combination of SERS technique and PLS-GA-BP algorithm.

Probing the role of surface speciation of tin oxide and tin catalysts on CO_(2) electroreduction combining in situ Raman spectroscopy and reactivity investigations

Electrochemical CO_(2)reduction to formate is a promising approach to store renewable electricity and utilize CO_(2).Tin oxide catalysts are efficient catalysts for this process,while the mechanisms underneath,especially the existence and role of oxidized tin species under CO2 electroreduction conditions remain unclear.In this work,we provide strong evidence on the presence of oxidized tin species on both SnO_(2)and Sn during CO_(2)reduction via in situ surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy,while in different nature.Reactivity measurements show similar activity and selectivity to formate production on SnO_(2)and Sn catalysts.Combined analysis of Raman spectra and reactivity results suggests that Sn(IV)and Sn(II)oxide species are unlikely the catalytic species in CO_(2)electroreduction to formate.

3D automatic segmentation method for retinal optical coherence tomography volume data using boundary surface enhancement

With the introduction of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography(SD-OCT),much larger image datasets are routinely acquired compared to what was possible using the previous generation of time-domain OCT.Thus,there is a critical need for the development of three-dimensional(3D)segmentation methods for processing these data.We present here a novel 3D automatic segmentation method for retinal OCT volume data.Brie°y,to segment a boundary surface,two OCT volume datasets are obtained by using a 3D smoothingfilter and a 3D differentialfilter.Their linear combination is then calculated to generate new volume data with an enhanced boundary surface,where pixel intensity,boundary position information,and intensity changes on both sides of the boundary surface are used simultaneously.Next,preliminary discrete boundary points are detected from the A-Scans of the volume data.Finally,surface smoothness constraints and a dynamic threshold are applied to obtain a smoothed boundary surface by correcting a small number of error points.Our method can extract retinal layer boundary surfaces sequentially with a decreasing search region of volume data.We performed automatic segmentation on eight human OCT volume datasets acquired from a commercial Spectralis OCT system,where each volume of datasets contains 97 OCT B-Scan images with a resolution of 496
512(each B-Scan comprising 512 A-Scans containing 496 pixels);experimental results show that this method can accurately segment seven layer boundary surfaces in normal as well as some abnormal eyes.

Application of Monodisperse Thermo-Responsive Composite Microgels with Core-Shell Structure Based on Au@Ag Bimetallic Nanorod as Core in Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Substrate

The monodisperse Au@Ag bimetallic nanorod is encapsulated by crosslinked poly( N-isopropylacrylamide)( PNIPAM) to produce thermo-responsive composite microgel with well-defined core-shell structure( Au@ Ag NR@ PNIPAM microgel)by seed-precipitation polymerization method using butenoic acid modified Au @ Ag NRs as seeds. When the temperature of the aqueous medium increases from 20℃ to 50℃,the localized surface plasmon resonance( LSPR) band of the entrapped Au @ Ag NR is pronouncedly red-shifted because of the decreased spatial distances between them as a result of shrinkage of the microgels,leading to their plasmonic coupling. The temperature tunable plasmonic coupling is demonstrated by temperature dependence of the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy( SERS) signal of 1-naphthol in aqueous solution. Different from static plasmonic coupling modes from nanostructured assembly or array system of noble metals,the proposed plasmonic coupling can be dynamically controlled by environmental temperature. Therefore, the thermo responsive hybrid microgels have potential applications in mobile LSPR or SERS microsensors for living tissues or cells.

TiO_2/Ag composite nanowires for a recyclable surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate

Multifunctional TiO2/Ag composite nanowires are fabricated with a hydrothermal method by precipitating Ag nanoparticles （NPs） on the surfaces of TiO2 nanowires. This hierarchical one-dimensional （1D） nanostructure can be used as a surface enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） substrate with high sensitivity, for detecting the rhodamine 6G （R6G） in a wide range of low concentrations （from 1 × 10 6 M to 1 × 10-12 M）. In addition, the substrate can be self-cleaned under the irradiation of ultraviolet （UV） light due to the superior photocatalytic capacity of the TiO2/Ag composite nanostructure, making the recycled use of SERS substrates closer to reality. With both the evident SERS performance and high efficiency of photocatalytic capacity, such TiOz/Ag composite nanowires demonstrate considerable potential in the chemical sensing of organic pollutants.

Influence of local environment on the intensity of the localized surface plasmon polariton of Ag nanoparticles

A combined Ag nanoparticle with an insulating or conductive layer structure has been designed tor molecular detection using surface enhanced Raman scattering microscopy. Optical absorption studies revealed localized surface plasmon resonance, which shows regular red shift with increasing environmental dielectric constant. With the combined structure of surface enhanced Raman scattering substrates and rhodamine 6C as a test molecule, the results in this paper show that the absorption has a linear relationship with the local electromagnetic field for insulating substrates, and the electrical property of the substrate has a non-negligible effect on the intensity of the local electromagnetic field and hence the Raman enhancement.

STUDY ON PHOTO-INDUCED ORIENTATION OF A NOVEL PHOTO-ALIGNMENT FILM WITH SURFACE ENHANCED RAMAN SCATTERING (SERS) SPECTROSCOPY

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy was first utilized to study the photo-orientation behaviour of the photoreactive groups on a novel photo-alignment film surface and elucidate the generation mechanism of pretilt angle. The novel photo-alignment film was prepared by spin-coating a solution of ladderlike polysiloxane (LPS) bearing dual photoreactive group on an ITO surface and by irradiation with linear-polarized ultraviolet (LPUV) light A Si—H terminal compound (M) containing an identical photosensitive part has been used to fabricate a model film for SERS investigation.

Preparation of SiO_2@Au nanorod array as novel surface enhanced Raman substrate for trace pollutants detection

An effective surface enhanced Raman scattering（SERS） substrate is designed and fabricated by synthesis of Si O2 nanorods array via glancing angle deposition, followed by coating Au nanoparticles onto Si O2 surface in order to create numerous ＂hot spots＂. The detecting sensitivity of such substrate could be optimized by simply adjusting the deposition time of Au. Thus, it can be used for detection of Rhodamine 6G at concentration as low as 10^-9M. Furthermore, our SERS substrate is applied to detect 5 μg/g polychlorinated biphenyls in soil sample, which proves its potential for trace environmental pollutants detection.

SURFACE ENHANCED RAMAN SPECTRA OF PHENYLMERCAPTOTETRAZOLE AND MERCAPTOBENZOTHIAZOLE ON SILVER

Normal Haman Spectra(NRS) of solid PMT (1-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole) and MBT (2-mercaptobenzothiazole) and their surface enhanced Raman spectra (SERS) adsorbed on the surface of the silver subcolloidal particles are reported and compared. It is supposed that PMT adsorbed on silver with both N and S atoms whereas MBT may be adsorbed on silver through S atom.

Monitoring the penetration and accumulation of gold nanoparticles in rat skin ex vivo using surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy

Contamination by accidental cutaneous contact with the commercial products and the air pol-hutants raised a considerable health and safety issue.This study aimed to trace the dynamics of the 20 nm gold nanopartide(GNP)penetration and accumulation in rat skin tissues using a surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)techmique.After the topical application of GNPs on rat skin surface,the SERS spectra were recorded for every 15 pum to an overall depth of 75 pum from skin surface for 150 min.The processes of GNP penetration in rat skin were accompanied by aggregation of GNPs,which affected SERS spectra.The results revealed that 20 nm GNPs can penetrate through stratum corneum layer,viable epidermis layer,and then into dermis layer.This study demonstrated for the first time the potential of SERS spectroscopy to monitor the penetration and accumulation of GNPs in rat skin.

SURFACE ENHANCED RAMAN SCATTERING OF C_(60) FILMS ON VARIOUS ACTIVE SUBSTRATES

In this paper,we report the study of surface-enhanced Raman Scattering of C_(60)films on roughed Ag,Cu and glass surface.The experiment results indicate that the C_(60)films on Ag substrate possess large enhance effect.An explanation of the enhancement with roughed glass surface is proposed based on waveguide Raman Scattering.

THE CHARACTERIZATION OF SILVER SUBCOLLOID USED IN SURFACE ENHANCED RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY

A clear light-yellow silver sol which has the visible spectral absorption at 390 nm, when adsorbed phenylmercaptotetrazole(PMT) or mercaptobenzothiazole(MBT), has a new absorption at 510-550 nm. It was found that the adsorption of halide ions competes with PMT and MBT. However, halide ions have a completely different influence from PMT and MBT on the spectral absorption of the silver sol. The differences may result from the change of the properties of the surface of the silver subcolloidal particles and from the bond forms combining adsorbates with the substrates.

Surface Plasmon and Fabry-Perot Enhanced Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect in Graphene Microribbons

A single sheet of graphene exhibits the ability to turn polarization of light by several degrees in modest magnetic fields. Here we demonstrate that giant angle rotation in graphene in the terahertz range can be realized and further increased by the introduction of surface plasmon and constructive Fabry Perot interference with the supporting substrate. The maximum Kerr rotation angle is up to 15° in a single layer of graphene ribbons at 6 TPIz for the applied magnetic field 4 T. Such a magnification in magneto-optical Kerr effect can be realized in a fairly large incident angle.