Recyclable substrates based on graphene oxide/gold nanorod composites for efficient surface enhanced Raman scattering

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has become increasingly popular in the scientific and industrial communities because of its analytical capabilities and potential to study fundamentals in plasmonics. Although under certain conditions extremely high sensitivity is possible, the practical use of SERS is frequently limited by instability and poor reproducibility of the enhancement factor. For this purpose, a recyclable surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate is fabricated. Compared with a pure Au nanorod substrate, a graphene oxide/Au nanorod composite substrate shows superior SERS performances and better re-usability, which could be ascribed to the improved specific binding of an analyte to a substrate, good dispersion of Au nanorods on the surface of graphene oxide and improved thermal stability. This study reveals a new strategy for fabricating recyclable SERS substrates, which are highly desirable for SERS practical applications.