Issue 20, 2017, Issue in Progress

A three-dimensional Au nanoparticle–monolayer graphene–Ag hexagon nanoarray structure for high-performance surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Abstract

Integration of graphene with plasmonic metal nanoparticles (NPs) holds great promise for constructing high-performance surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. Here, we fabricate an artificial three-dimensional (3D) SERS substrate by assembling Au NPs on graphene supported with electron beam lithography-fabricated Ag hexagon nanoarrays (HNAs). Through modulation of the structures to sufficiently narrow interparticle spaces, we have created high-density sub-10 nm gaps between the horizontally patterned Ag hexagons with an excellent uniformity. Moreover, nanometer-scale gaps were formed with the successful embedding of monolayer graphene (1LG) between Au NPs and Ag HNAs. Finite element numerical simulations revealed the electric field enhancement effect for the 3D hybrid system with a maximum of 107 due to the multi-dimensional plasmonic couplings including Au NP–Au NP, Au NP–Ag hexagon and Ag hexagon–Ag hexagon couplings. By combining the SERS activity and high order of Ag HNAs, the chemical stability of Au, and the single-atomic thickness of graphene, the fabricated 3D Au NP–1LG–Ag HNA structure exhibits a 3107-fold enhancement of the Raman response of graphene and high SERS sensitivity with a detection limit down to 0.1 pM for Rhodamine 6G molecules, as well as good reliability and stability. In addition, the 3D SERS substrate facilitated the simultaneous detection of both Rhodamine 6G and crystal violet molecules. This work represents a step towards high-performance SERS substrate fabrication, and opens a new window to the rational design of graphene–plasmonic hybrids for SERS applications.

Graphical abstract: A three-dimensional Au nanoparticle–monolayer graphene–Ag hexagon nanoarray structure for high-performance surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Dec 2016
Accepted
29 Dec 2016
First published
30 Dec 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 11904-11912

A three-dimensional Au nanoparticle–monolayer graphene–Ag hexagon nanoarray structure for high-performance surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Y. Zhao, S. Zhao, L. Zhang, Y. Liu, X. Li and Y. Lu, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 11904 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA27973B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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