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Issue 33, 2013
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Gap-tunable Ag-nanorod arrays on alumina nanotip arrays as effective SERS substrates

Kexi Sun,a  Guowen Meng,*ab  Qing Huang,c  Xianglong Zhao,a  Chuhong Zhu,a  Zhulin Huang,a  Yiwu Qian,a  Xiujuan Wanga  and  Xiaoye Hua 
Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

a Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, and Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanostructures, Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
E-mail: gwmeng@issp.ac.cn
Fax: +86 551-65591434
Tel: +86 551-65592749

b University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

c Key Laboratory of Ion Beam Bioengineering, Institute of Technical Biology and Agriculture Engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China

Abstract

Large area arrays of length-tunable alumina nanotips on the joints of hexagonally patterned conical-pores in an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template are achieved via a repeated process of anodizing Al foil for pore growth downwards and phosphoric acid etching for pore-widening. By top-view sputtering Ag on the alumina nanotip arrays, hexagonally patterned arrays of Ag-nanorods (Ag-NRs) on the alumina nanotips and uniformly distributed Ag-nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) on the upper rim of the inner surface of the conical-pores are obtained and they exhibit strong surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity due to the high density of sub-10 nm gaps between the nearest neighboring Ag-NRs and between the adjacent Ag-NPs. The resultant nanostructures are tailored to attain an optimal SERS enhancement factor of ∼3.2 × 107 by tuning the Ag-sputtering duration. SERS measurements demonstrate that the as-fabricated large-scale Ag-nanostructures can serve as highly sensitive and reproducible SERS substrates. Finite element method calculation also confirms that the fabricated substrates possess excellent SERS activity. By modifying the Ag-NR arrays with mono-6-thio-β-cyclodextrin, the SERS detection limit of PCB-77 (a congener of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)) reaches 10−6 M, showing potential in SERS-based rapid detection of trace PCBs, a kind of global environmental hazardous material.

Graphical abstract: Gap-tunable Ag-nanorod arrays on alumina nanotip arrays as effective SERS substrates

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Publication details

The article was received on 11 Apr 2013, accepted on 13 Jun 2013 and first published on 14 Jun 2013


Article type: Paper
DOI: 10.1039/C3TC30669K
Citation: J. Mater. Chem. C, 2013,1, 5015-5022
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    Gap-tunable Ag-nanorod arrays on alumina nanotip arrays as effective SERS substrates

    K. Sun, G. Meng, Q. Huang, X. Zhao, C. Zhu, Z. Huang, Y. Qian, X. Wang and X. Hu, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2013, 1, 5015
    DOI: 10.1039/C3TC30669K

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