In situ fabrication of single-crystalline porous ZnO nanoplates on zinc foil to support silver nanoparticles as a stable SERS substrate

Abstract

Hierarchical porous materials have received much attention in recent years owing to their important applications in many fields. In this paper, we demonstrate the fabrication of porous ZnO nanoplates on zinc foil. The precursor hydrozincite was synthesized by the reaction of zinc foil and urea solution in a teflon-lined stainless steel autoclave. After calcination, the hydrozincite was converted to porous ZnO. A possible formation process of porous ZnO nanoplates on zinc foil is proposed. The precursor hydrozincite nanoplates assemble to microspheres at a primary stage and grow with the reaction time. After reaching the maximum dimension at 2 h, the nanoplates begin to dissolve. The prepared porous ZnO showed a single-crystalline nature. Ag nanoparticles were deposited on the porous ZnO nanoplates to form a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate. The substrate showed good uniformity and temporal stability under laser irradiation. The results indicate that it is a promising SERS substrate.