Plasmonic All-Frame-Faceted Octahedral Nanoframes with Eight Engraved Y-Shaped Hot Zones.

Abstract

We report the synthesis of all-frame-faceted octahedral nanoframes containing eight Y-shaped hot zones in a single entity where electromagnetic near-field focusing can be maximized. To realize such state-of-the-art complex nanoframes, a series of multiple stepwise bottom-up processes were executed by exploiting Au octahedral nanoparticles as the initial template. By rationally controlling the chemical reactivity of different surface facets (i.e., vertexes, edges, and terraces), the Au octahedral nanoparticles went through controlled shape transformations, leading to Au-engraved nanoparticles wherein 24 edges wrap the octahedral Au nanoparticle core. Those edges were then selectively decorated with Pt, leading to the formation of eight Pt tripods in a single entity. After etching the central Au, 3D Pt tripod frame-faceted octahedral nanoframes were achieved with high integrity. By harnessing the obtained Pt nanoframes as a scaffold, AuAg alloy-based plasmonic all-frame-faceted nanoframes were obtained after the co-reduction of Ag and Au, which generated multiple hot zones within multiple surface intra-nanogaps, creating a single-particle, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy enhancer platform.