Graphene-Au nanosphere composite arrays and their enhanced SERS performance

Abstract

The effective regulation of the absorption properties of Au nanosphere arrays, as well as effective enhancement of its SERS performance, are of great significance for its applications in the field of optical sensing. In this paper, the polyol synthesis method was used to fabricate monolayer and bilayer periodic Au nanosphere arrays, onto which monolayer graphene was coated, and the optical properties of the obtained composite structures were investigated. The results showed that the coverage of graphene enhances the absorption peak intensities of the monolayer and bilayer Au nanoarrays by up to 32.92%, and the resonance peaks were red-shifted by up to 17 nm. The Raman signals of graphene-covered monolayer and bilayer Au nanosphere composite arrays are 180 and 280 times stronger than that of pristine graphene, due to the combination of chemical enhancement and electromagnetic enhancement. And the detection sensitivity of R6G molecules by graphene-bilayer Au nanosphere composite arrays is 10−6 M. In addition, the staggered stacking of bilayer Au nanosphere arrays can provide more plasmonic hotspots, resulting in higher Raman intensity of the substrate. These results will pave the way for the fabrication of highly efficient SERS substrates by providing various promising candidates.