Electrochemically created highly surface roughened Ag nanoplate arrays for SERS biosensing applications

Abstract

Highly surface-roughened Ag nanoplate arrays are fabricated using a simple electrodeposition and in situ electrocorrosion method with inorganic borate ions as capping agent. The electrocorrosion process is induced by a change in the local pH value during the electrochemical growth, which is used to intentionally carve the electrodeposited structures. The three dimensionally arranged Ag nanoplates are integrated with substantial surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) hot spots and are free of organic contaminations widely used as shaping agents in previous works, making them excellent candidate substrates for SERS biosensing applications. The SERS enhancement factor of the rough Ag nanoplates is estimated to be >10⁹. These Ag nanoplate arrays are used for SERS-based analysis of DNA hybridization monitoring, protein detection, and virus differentiation without any additional surface modifications or labelling. They all exhibit an extremely high detection sensitivity, reliability, and reproducibility.