Fabrication and characterization of hierarchical multipod silver citrate complex microcrystals with excellent SERS properties

Abstract

Novel hierarchical multipod silver citrate complex (SCC) microcrystals have been successfully synthesized in aqueous solution for the first time. The multipod SCC microcrystals with an average size of 10 μm are composed of well-crystallized multiple arms, which grow from the lateral sidewalls of the bigger SCC seeds. A study on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity is also carried out on the novel hierarchical multipod SCC microcrystals. The results reveal that the prepared SCC microcrystals showed excellent performance and super sensitivity as a SERS substrate, indicating the potential application in SERS-related detection.