High Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering Activity Research Articles

Hierarchically assembled silver nanoprism-graphene oxide-silicon nanowire arrays for ultrasensitive surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy sensing of atrazine

Exploration of novel strategies for fabricating SERS substrates attracted enormous research potential as achieving high sensitivity, reproducibility along with cost effectiveness is really challenging. Herein, we have fabricated hierarchical silver nanoprism/graphene oxide/silicon nanowire (Ag/GO/SiNWs) arrays as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors for the effective detection of atrazine. Homogenous and vertically aligned SiNWs have been successfully synthesized using silver assisted chemical etching. Further, Ag/GO/SiNWs arrays were assembled by subsequent spin-coating of GO followed by drop-casting deposition of Ag nanoprisms. Micro-structural properties of as-fabricated nano-arrays have been well examined by scanning electron and atomic force microscopic techniques. Nanowire bunches have been decorated by GO layers; which further facilitates homogenous deposition of Ag nanoprisms. Using rhodamin 6G as probe molecule, high SERS activity and excellent reproducibility of as-fabricated substrates have been demonstrated. High efficiency of 3.2 × 108 and was obtained for the fabricated sensors; attributed to the synergetic charge transfer between GO and Ag nanoprisms on high surface area Si nanowires. Charge transfer mechanism that leading to enhanced surface plasmon resonance effect of the as-fabricated array was established as well. Further, these low cost Ag/GO/SiNWs sensors exhibited ultrasensitive detection of pollutants such as methylene blue and atrazine residues down to picomolar levels; these can serve as potential chemical sensors for rapid monitoring of environmental pollutants in trace levels.

In Situ SERS Monitoring of the Plasmon-Driven Catalytic Reaction by Using Single Ag@Au Nanowires as Substrates.

Single nanowires (NWs), as a kind of new surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates, have received extensive concern owing to their distinctive properties and distinct advantages. In this contribution, single Ag nanowires (AgNWs) and single Au-coated AgNWs (Ag@AuNWs) were fabricated by the laser-assisted pulling method and the galvanic replacement reaction, respectively. The prepared single Ag@AuNWs show both high SERS activity and catalytic activity through in situ monitoring and assessing the plasmon-driven surface-catalytic reaction of 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP) dimerizing to 4,4'-dimercaptoazobenzene and the reduction reaction of 4-NTP to para-aminothiophenol, respectively. It was found that the intensity of the Raman peak was affected greatly by the laser power, and the Raman peak could still be observed at 0.05% power under mild conditions (633 nm wavelength) in this single nanowire system. From the Raman spectrum, the SERS enhancement factor (EF) of 5.4 × 104 can be obtained, and the EF value of 1.3 × 109 can be reached at optimal conditions. Results have shown that single Ag@AuNWs can be utilized as a good platform for SERS applications with high sensitivity, stability, and reproducibility, which will benefit SERS-based research at the single entity level.

Synthesis of Large-Area MoSe2 Monolayer Film for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Analysis

Ultrathin two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides represent a promising new class of materials with surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities. Previous work mainly focused on the SERS effects of transition metal dichalcogenide crystals with sizes of micrometer scale. The enhancement effect is usually nonuniform on the SERS substrates. In this paper, we report a chemical vapor deposition method for the preparation of centimeter-scale MoSe2 films with uniform and high SERS activity. The molybdenum precursors are supplied in a “face-to-face” manner from a silica gel plate to the growth substrate, which guarantees uniform nucleation and growth of the monolayer MoSe2. We demonstrate that the monolayer MoSe2 film has strong SERS effect, which can be attributed to charge transfer between MoSe2 and the probe molecules. The detection limit of Rhodamine B on monolayer MoSe2 is determined to be 10[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]mol/L, and the Raman enhancement factor is estimated to be [Formula: see text]. Due to its atomic uniformity and chemical stability, the MoSe2 film can serve as an ideal two-dimensional SERS material for detection of various molecules.

High-performance detection of p-nitroaniline on defect-graphene SERS substrate utilizing molecular imprinting technique

We report a novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate for detecting p-nitroaniline (PNA) in real water samples, which possesses excellent sensitivity, good selectivity, and high SERS activity. Specifically, the uniform distribution structure of defect-graphene/Ag (DG/Ag) is obtained by acid etching graphene loading silver nanoparticles. The Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) film is copolymerized on the surface of DG/Ag by function monomer, crosslinker and template of PNA. A DG/Ag-MIP SERS substrate is obtained through polymerization of molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) on defect-graphene/Ag (DG/Ag) supporting materials. Our results signify that this new SERS substrate reveals excellent performance for PNA with an enhancement factor of 2.42 × 107. Moreover, DG/Ag-MIP substrate exhibits outstanding capability to detect PNA molecules with detection limit approximately reaching 1.0 × 10−14 M. These experimental results imply that the DG/Ag-MIP SERS substrate possesses potential application for sensing detection of PNA in environment.

Mass transport through a sub-10 nm single gold nanopore: SERS and ionic current measurement

Sub-10 nm single gold nanopore was fabricated at the tip of a glass nanopipette. SERS spectrum of R6G and ionic current blockage of lambda-DNA through the plasmonic nanopore were observed. • The chemically synthesized single gold nanopore with high SERS activity. • Both ionic current and dynamic SERS spectrum were obtained on a plasmonic nanopore. • The present study proved that single molecule transport is quite possibly be detected using the sub-10 nm gold nanopore. Gold nanopore is promising to be used in single molecule sequencing by measuring surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrum. To achieve this goal, fabrication of small and size-controllable single gold nanopore is in urgent need. We synthesized gold nanoplates with a sub-10 nm single nanopore at the center, which was then successfully attached at the tip of a glass nanopipette using sulfhydryl silane. The transport of about 1.4 × 10 3 rhodamine 6G molecules was detected using SERS. The current blockage caused by single lambda DNA passing through the nanopore was also observed. The translocation time of lambda DNA through the gold nanopore was much longer than that of lambda DNA through the bare glass nanopipette, revealing the strong DNA-gold nanopore interaction affected the transport behavior of lambda DNA. The observed result further shows that the time resolution of SERS (~ms) may match the transport time of DNA through plasmonic nanopore. The sub-10 nm gold nanopore is possible to be used in single molecule transport detection with the improvement of the nanopore attachment.

Fabrication optimization and application of 3D hybrid SERS substrates.

Three-dimensional (3D) plasmonic nanostructures with nanoparticles that can be tuned have got a lot of attention in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) due to the unique 3D plasmonic coupling. Here, two nanoparticles, gold nanosphere (AuNS) and gold nanooctahedra (AuNO), were used to construct 3D hybrid SERS substrates to investigate the effect of nanoparticle spatial position on the SERS performance of the 3D nanostructure and to obtain 3D substrates with high SERS activity. And more hybrid combination possibilities were tested to explore the variation trend of hot spots generated when the nanoparticles were near. First, two-dimensional (2D) planar substrates were prepared using the air–liquid interface-assisted self-assembly method, to examine the effect of nanoparticle size on SERS performance. Then, 3D hybrid SERS substrates were further prepared layer by layer to discuss the effect of different combination methods within three layers on SERS performance. The optimized 3D hybrid substrate with the sandwich structure of AuNS/AuNO/AuNS performed the strongest SERS enhancement effect, whose intensity was 4.1 and 1.9 times that of AuNS/AuNS/AuNS and AuNO/AuNO/AuNO, respectively, and had good reproducibility (relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.08%). Furthermore, the thiram molecular result showed that the prepared AuNS/AuNO/AuNS had good linear relationship (R2 of 0.991) and good molecule detection sensitivity (the minimum detection volume of thiram is 100 ppb), which demonstrated the great potential of the 3D hybrid SERS substrates in practical analysis.

Multifunctional hollow porous Au/Pt nanoshells for simultaneous surface-enhanced Raman scattering and catalysis

Multifunctional nanostructures based on noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted great interest owing to their unique properties and potential for various applications. However, sophisticated control of the structural design through synthesis still remains challenging. Here we report a simple approach to synthesizing hollow porous metal nanoshells (HP metal NSs) comprising different metal NPs sintered together, with a structure and composition that can be readily controlled. The hybrid HP metal NSs can have multifunctionality in its single entity depending on their constituent metal NPs. As a demonstration, we prepared HP metal NSs comprising Au, Pt, and their hybrids, and measured their catalytic and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities in a model catalytic reduction of 4-nitrothiophenol to 4-aminothiophenol by sodium borohydride. The HP metal NSs comprising homogeneous Au or Pt NPs had high SERS activity and catalytic activity, respectively. In contrast, the HP Au/Pt hybrid NSs showed excellent multifunctional features with sensitive SERS performance and high catalytic activity owing to synergistic effects of the exposed Au and Pt NPs sites. Our simple strategy for fabricating HP metal NSs with a unique structure enables easy control of the NPs composition, and the resulting materials hold great promise for practical applications in various fields.

Facile construction of large-area periodic Ag-Au composite nanostructure and its reliable SERS performance.

With the maturity of nano-manufacturing technology, nano-materials with excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities have evolved from homogeneous materials to composite ones, but the structural uniformity of composite materials has not been effectively improved. We successfully obtained a series of Ag-Au composite nanostructures with high SERS activity by using a two-step deposition and confined spheroidization process and one-step in-situ substitution method. Anodized alumina templates with uniform size distribution were employed as the initial confined template for spheroidizing Ag film into periodic Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs). The composite nanostructure was simply obtained after a one-step in-situ galvanic reaction based on the Ag NPs arrays. The results showed that the prepared Ag-Au composite nanostructure could be used as reliable SERS substrates with low relative standard deviation value of ∼6.25% for crystal violet molecules. Compared with previous reports, this one-step route greatly simplifies the process of preparing periodic composite nanomaterials and provides a new idea for constructing multi-component metal nanostructures.

Controllable Preparation of Plasmonic Gold Nanostars for Enhanced Photothermal and SERS Effects

Gold nanostars(Au NSs) are asymmetric anisotropic nanomaterials with sharp edge structure. As a promising branched nanomaterial, Au NS has excellent plasmonic absorption and scattering properties. In order to tune the plasmonic photothermal and surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS) activity of Au NSs to obtain the desired characteristics, the effects of reagents on the local surface plasmon resonance(LSPR) bands of Au NSs were studied and the morphology and size were regulated. Nanoparticles with different sharp edges were synthesized to make their local plasmon resonance mode tunable in the visible and near-infrared region. The effects of the number and sharpness of different tips under the control of AgNO3 on the photothermal response of Au NSs and the SERS activity and their mechanism were discussed in detail. The results show that as the length of the branch tip becomes longer and the sharpness increases, the plasmonic photothermal effect of Au NSs is strengthened, and the photothermal conversion efficiency is the highest up to 40% when the length of Au NSs is the longest. Au NSs with high SERS activity are used for the Raman detection substrate. Based on this property, the quantitative detection of the pesticide thiram is achieved.

Ultra-sensitive, reusable, and superhydrophobic Ag/ZnO/Ag 3D hybrid surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate for hemoglobin detection

The small Raman scattering cross section of hemoglobin (Hb) molecules limits its application using a Raman spectroscopy based optical biosensor. Label-free surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection and degradation of Hb have been achieved using 3D reusable superhydrophobic SERS substrates based on a Ag/ZnO/Ag hybrid structure. The fabrication process follows the decoration of thermally evaporated non-spherical like Ag nanoparticles on hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods on a catalytic ultra-thin Ag film. From SERS point of view, these 3D SERS substrates exhibit four important characteristics such as a higher surface to volume ratio, surface plasmon resonance in the broad wavelength region of the visible spectrum, a strong electric field at the Ag–ZnO interface due to the formation of a Schottky barrier, and the superhydrophobic surface. The SERS substrates not only performed an outstanding Raman enhancement effect due to the above factors but also displayed multiple recyclabilities owing to their excellent self-cleaning property via a UV light assisted photocatalytic degradation process. The quantitative SERS analysis has been performed by a linear regression method and resulted in 10−13.42M and 10−7.24M limit of detection for Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) and Hb molecules, respectively, with an enhancement factor of 6 × 1011. The effect of the 3D hybrid structure toward higher SERS activity has been compared with that of 2D SERS substrates, and the SERS mapping of Rh6G molecules proves good homogeneity of the 3D SERS substrates. These ultra-sensitive 3D SERS substrates with reusable capability open the possibility of their use toward biosensors for the early detection of diseases.

Urchin-like ZnO-nanorod arrays templated growth of ordered hierarchical Ag/ZnO hybrid arrays for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Here, a universal strategy for the controllable synthesis of three dimensional (3D) hierarchical Ag/ZnO hybrid arrays based on the urchin-like ZnO-nanorod array template is presented. The urchin-like ZnO-nanorod arrays are first achieved by electrodepositing a high density of ZnO-nanorods onto the surface of highly hexagonally arranged arrays of polystyrene (PS) microspheres, and then Ag-nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) are assembled onto the surface of each ZnO-nanorod via photochemical reaction, ion sputtering, galvanic cell reaction deposition and electrochemical deposition, forming the ordered hierarchical Ag/ZnO hybrid arrays. The urchin-like Ag/ZnO hybrid arrays with well-ordered hierarchical morphology and high density ‘hot spots’ located in the sub-10 nm gaps between neighboring Ag-NPs on both the same ZnO-nanorod and neighboring ZnO-nanorods can be directly utilized as hybrid surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates with high SERS activity. This work provides a strategy for the rational assembly of well-ordered hierarchical noble metal/semiconductor hybrid arrays, which may open up many opportunities in areas such as catalysis, SERS, and biosensing.

Facile synthesis of Fe3O4@Au core–shell nanocomposite as a recyclable magnetic surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate for thiram detection

The Fe3O4@Au core–shell nanocomposites, as the multifunctional magnetic surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates, were fabricated successfully by the seeds growth method based on the Fe3O4–Au core-satellite nanocomposites. The SERS properties of the Fe3O4–Au core-satellite nanocomposites and the Fe3O4@Au core–shell nanocomposites were compared using 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) as the probe molecule. It was found that Fe3O4@Au core–shell nanocomposites showed better SERS performance than Fe3O4–Au core-satellite nanocomposites. The Au shell provided an effectively large surface area for forming sufficient plasmonic hot spots and capturing target molecules. The integration of magnetic core and plasmonic Au nanocrystals endowed the Fe3O4@Au core–shell nanocomposites with highly efficient magnetic separation and enrichment ability and abundant interparticle hot spots. The Fe3O4@Au core–shell nanocomposites could be easily recycled because of the intrinsic magnetism of the Fe3O4 cores and had good reproducibility of the SERS signals. For practical application, the Fe3O4@Au core–shell nanocomposites were also used to detect thiram. There was a good linear relationship between the SERS signal intensity and the concentration of thiram from 1 × 10−3 to 1 × 10−8 M and the limit of detection was 7.69 × 10−9 M. Moreover, residual thiram on apple peel was extracted and detected with a recovery rate range of 99.3%. The resulting substrate with high SERS activity, stability and strong magnetic responsivity makes the Fe3O4@Au core–shell nanocomposites a perfect choice for practical SERS detection applications.

Direct Observation of Enhanced Raman Scattering on Nano-Sized ZrO2 Substrate: Charge-Transfer Contribution

Direct observation of the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of molecules adsorbed on nano-sized zirconia (ZrO2) substrates was first reported without the need for the addition of metal particles. It was found that ZrO2 nanoparticles can exhibit unprecedented Raman signal enhancements on the order of 103 for the probe molecule 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA). The dramatic effect of the calcination temperature on the ZrO2 nanoparticles was also investigated. The ZrO2 nanoparticles with the particle diameter of 10.5 nm, which were prepared by calcination at a temperature of 500°C, have the highest SERS activity. A comparison between the experimental and calculation results indicates that charge transfer (CT) effects dominate the surface enhancement. The plentiful surface state of ZrO2 active substrate that is beneficial to CT resonance occurs between molecules and ZrO2 to produce a SERS effect. The CT process depends, to a large extent, on the intrinsic properties of the modifying molecules and the surface properties of the ZrO2. This is a new SERS phenomenon for ZrO2 that will expand the application of ZrO2 to microanalysis and is beneficial for studying the basic properties of both ZrO2 and SERS.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Probing the Translocation of DNA and Amino Acid through Plasmonic Nanopores.

DNA and amino acids are important biomolecules in living organisms. Probing such biomolecules with structural characters can provide valuable information for life study. Here, gold plasmonic nanopores (GPNs) with high SERS activity (a local enhancement factor higher than 109) are synthesized at the tip of a glass nanopipette. An electric field drives individual molecules to translocate through the GPNs, which enables in situ collection of the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Nonresonant biomolecules, including nucleobases, amino acids, and oligonucleotides (DNA), with single nucleobase differences can be distinguished. The intensity of SERS is tunable by modulating the affinity between DNA and the GPNs. The present study shows the feasibility of applying a plasmonic nanopore to DNA and protein detection, which may also provide an easy way for tracking single molecule translocation by developing a well-defined single plasmonic nanopore.

Silver Molecularly Imprinting Polymer for the Determination of p-Nitroaniline by Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering

Molecular imprinting and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) were used to prepare a core-shell Ag@molecularly imprinting polymer (MIP) for the determination of p-nitroaniline. The obtained Ag@MIP exhibits a detection limit of 10−12 M, which demonstrates higher sensitivity toward p-nitroaniline than conventional approaches. In addition, the Ag@MIP shows good recyclability, and simultaneously offers better stability and high SERS activity for recognizing target molecules. To characterize the high SERS activity of the SERS-MIP hybrid material, a possible mechanism for the SERS substrate is proposed involving enhancement by the MIP. This study is expected to provide an alternative approach for the determination of p-nitroaniline in aqueous environments.

Photochemical Synthesis of Porous CuFeSe2/Au Heterostructured Nanospheres as SERS Sensor for Ultrasensitive Detection of Lung Cancer Cells and Their Biomarkers

Rapid and sensitive identification of tumor biomarker or cancer cells in their nascent stage based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is still an attractive challenge due to the low molecular affinity for the metal surface, the complexity of the sample, and low-efficiency use of hot spots in one- or two-dimensional geometries. Here, we demonstrated a novel kind of renewable CuFeSe2/Au heterostructured nanospheres that are hierarchically porous for specific and sensitive detection of lung cancer biomarkers of aldehydes and lung cancer cells. The heterostructured nanospheres were constructed by loading an Au shell formed by photoreduction on the CuFeSe2 frameworks. P-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) as a Raman-active probe molecule was first grafted on CuFeSe2/Au nanospheres, and then the gaseous aldehyde molecules were sensitively bonded onto the nanospheres by formation of a C═N bond with a detection limit of 1.0 ppb. Moreover, the resulting folic acid (FA)-conjugated nanospheres have a high SERS activity...

Controllable corrosion-assisted fabrication of Au–Ag alloyed hollow nanocrystals for highly efficient and environmentally-stable SERS substrates

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates with both high activity and long term chemical-stability have been expected in the practical application of the SERS-based detection. In this paper, Au–Ag bimetal nanocrystals are fabricated based on the template-etching reaction in the Ag nanocubes-contained cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) aqueous solution via adding the HAuCl4 solution. The obtained nanocrystals are Au–Ag alloyed and hollow in structure. Further, it has been found that with the increasing Au/Ag molar ratio, the shape of the alloyed nanocrystals evolve from the truncated nanocubes to the hollow boxes and then nanocages, showing the ever red-shifting surface plasmon resonance from the visible to the infrared region. The formation of the alloyed hollow nanocrystals is attributed to the preferential dissolution of the Ag nanocubes induced by CPC selective adsorption and the three to one galvanic replacement reaction between Ag and Au atoms. Importantly, such Au–Ag alloyed hollow nanocrystals, especially the ones with a low Au/Ag atomic ratio, show both high SERS activity and long term environmental stability compared with pure Ag or Au nanocrystals, and are the ideal candidate for the SERS substrate with practical application value. This work not only demonstrates the nanofabrication route to the alloyed hollow nanocrystals with controllable shapes and tunable optical properties in a large region, but also presents highly active and chemically-stable SERS substrates for the practical SERS-based detection.

Sonochemical and mechanical stirring synthesis of liquid metal nanograss structures for low‐cost SERS substrates

AbstractMicro‐nanofabrication technologies are frequently used to prepare surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)‐active substrates with specially shaped microstructures, whose characteristics of high sensitivity and good reproducibility are our unswerving pursuit of the goal. However, these techniques suffer from high cost and low throughput, which limits the fabrication of large‐area SERS substrates and restricts their practical application in detection analysis. Therefore, a low‐cost, facile, and environmentally friendly fabrication strategy for SERS‐active substrates by sonochemical treatment in conjunction with mechanical stirring without surfactants is proposed for the detection of low concentrations of molecules. Liquid metal alloys were employed as SERS‐active substrate materials and are easily oxidized to form an oxide film in air, resulting in good dispersion of the nanoparticles. In addition, nanograss consisting of rod‐like structures and nanogaps formed on the micro/nanoparticle surface, providing numerous SERS‐active sites. The shape, size, and surface nanostructure of the micro/nanoparticles could be tuned by controlling the ultrasonication time and the stirring speed. The performance of the SERS substrate coated with Au film was evaluated by using rhodamine 6G as a probe. The resulting limit of rhodamine 6G detection for the optimized nanograss‐structured substrate by Raman analysis was as low as 10−7 M, and the standard deviation was 8–15.5%, which meets the requirements for the trace detection of analytes. This facile, large‐scale, low‐cost, and green synthesis of a liquid metal nanograss‐structured substrate with high SERS activity and sensitivity makes it a perfect choice for practical SERS detection applications.

Polyethylenimine-assisted seed-mediated synthesis of gold nanoparticles for surface-enhanced Raman scattering studies

Large-sized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized with a new polyethylenimine − assisted seed − mediated method for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies. The size and polydispersity of gold nanoparticles are controlled in the growth step with the amounts of polyethylenimine (PEI) and seeds. Influence of three silicon oxide supports having different surface morphologies, namely halloysite (Hal) nanotubes, glass plates and inverse opal films of SiO2, on the performance of gold nanoparticles in Raman scattering of a 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) analyte was investigated. Electrostatic interaction between positively charged polyethylenimine-capped AuNPs and negatively charged surfaces of silicon oxide supports was utilized in fabrication of the SERS substrates using deposition and infiltration methods. The Au-photonic crystal of the three SERS substrate groups is the most active one as it showed the highest analytical enhancement factor (AEF) and the lowest detection limit of 1x10−8 M for 4-ATP. Coupling of the optical properties of photonic crystals with the plasmonic properties of AuNPs provided Au-photonic crystals with the high SERS activity. The AuNPs clusters formed both in the photonic crystal and on the glass plate are capable of forming more hot spots as compared to sparsely distributed AuNPs on Hal nanotubes and thereby increasing the SERS enhancement.

Preparation and SERS performance of Au NP/paper strips based on inkjet printing and seed mediated growth: The effect of silver ions

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been widely used in biomedical sensing with the advantages of high sensitivity and label-free. However, the fabrication of SERS substrates with good Raman activity, reproducibility, and low cost is still under development in practical applications. This paper presents a practicable method for fabricating Au NP/paper strips by using inkjet printing and seed mediated growth. Small gold seed synthesized by borohydride reduction was used as ink and printed on the filter paper. The printed gold seed grew in situ in the growth solution and formed the gold nanoparticle (Au NP)/paper strips. The fabricated paper strip was characterized by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The diffuse reflectance spectra indicated that the Au NP/paper strips had two local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peaks: the short one at around 540 nm and the long one located in the range of 640–840 nm. And the long LSPR peak firstly shifted to red then to blue with the increased concentrations of silver ions in growth solution. From the SEM images, the shape of grown Au NPs was diverse, including sphere, rod, ellipsoid, dimer, trimer, and big aggregates. We thought the short peak came from the LSPR of nanospheres and the transvers LSPR of rod and ellipsoid like particles, while the long peak mainly came from the plasmonic coupling of dimer along the inter-particle axis. The obtained Au NP/paper strip with the long peak located around 650 nm had the highest SERS activity, which could be attributed to the plasmon resonance induced local field enhancement and nanogap effect. Also, the SERS performance results indicated the printed SERS strips exhibited satisfied uniformity and stability, demonstrating the potential of Au NP/paper strip in real-world applications.