Facile and controlled synthesis of self-conjugated Ag@IP6-micelle compositions for surface-enhanced spectroscopic application

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a facile method to prepare inositol hexakisphosphoric (IP₆) micelle encapsulated silver nanoparticles (AgNP@IP₆-micelle) using a reduction reagent of L-ascorbic acid. The AgNP@IP₆-micelle compositions self-conjugated mutually with a gap of about 2 nm when an adequate dosage of reduction agent was added and produced “hot spots” for high enhancement of Raman scattering. Furthermore, the conjugated AgNP@IP₆-micelle compositions retain their surface enhanced Raman scattering activity due to their high stability without random aggregation under storage at 4 °C for more than one month. Additionally, the AgNP@IP₆-micelle compositions obtained when an insufficient dosage of L-ascorbic acid was added, self-conjugate with a gap of around 50 nm, and present surface-enhanced fluorescent performance.