Abstract
Herein we report about developing new type of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrates based on Au-decorated carbon nanowalls. The designed substrates possess high specific surface area and high sensitivity. Chemical stability of Au perfectly blends with electrical properties and high value of specific surface area of carbon nanowalls. Created structures were applied to detect signals of a typical molecule used for SERS substrates testing, rhodamine 6G, which exhibits electronic absorption in the visible area of spectrum, and biomacromolecules such as tryptophan, guanine, bovine serum albumin and keratin hydrolysates, whose electronic absorption is in the ultraviolet region of spectrum and lies far from the Au plasmonic resonance. The obtained signals for these compounds suggest that the developed substrate is a prominent platform for the detection of biological macromolecules. The properties of the substrate, including its morphology and Au film thickness, as well as the analyte deposition method, were optimized to achieve the optimum Raman signal enhancement. Electric field distribution in the designed structures was calculated to describe the observed dependence of SERS activity on the substrate morphology.
Highlights
We report about developing new type of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrates based on Au-decorated carbon nanowalls
Raman spectroscopy is a powerful analytical tool, which is capable of identifying a fingerprint vibrational spectrum of analyte molecules, which are characterized by unique distributions of oscillatory frequencies
Various types of SERS substrates were created during four past decades, but still there is a strong need for new methods of engineering structures able to enhance Raman signal because so far there is no low-cost technique that can combine high enhancement factor (EF), reproducibility and stability of signal all over the surface of the substrate
Summary
We report about developing new type of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrates based on Au-decorated carbon nanowalls. V. Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, M. Most of the commercial applications require not the highest enhancement factor, but reproducibility and uniform distribution of the hot spots all over the substrate surface. Such qualities provide the best conditions for fast and reliable measurements. In this work we have chosen the strategy of decoration of films of high specific surface area with Au particles, to obtain uniform and dense distribution of hot spots all over the substrate. CNWs exhibit high surface area of 1000 m2/g9 due to nanostructures on its surface These properties are crucial for production of substrates with a high average enhancement. To provide deeper analysis of SERS behaviour of Au@CNW substrates, we carried out theoretical calculations of the electric field distribution in the designed system
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