Issue 35, 2018

Charge transfer interactions of pyrazine with Ag12 clusters towards precise SERS chemical mechanism

Abstract

We have synthesized Ag12 nanoclusters (NCs) with mercaptosuccinic acid (H2SMA) as the ligand. This cluster is found to be water-soluble and has satisfactory stability with [Ag12(HSMA)6Na6]2+, as determined by high-resolution mass spectrometry. Interestingly, it is noted that both the H2SMA ligand and Ag12 clusters do not display interference Raman signals, suggesting that this material is a good candidate as a substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). As a result, we observe enhanced Raman activity of pyrazine molecules adsorbed on Ag12 NCs along with a large red-shift up to ∼27 cm−1. To fully demonstrate the charge transfer interactions between pyrazine and Ag12 clusters, by utilizing first-principles calculations, we estimate polarizability tensor and conduct electronic natural population analysis (NPA), natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, deformation density analysis (DDA) and charge decomposition analysis (CDA). In view of the minimized contribution from local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), such a comprehensive study of metal NCs, which are free of Raman interference, provides a modelling method towards the long-debated chemical mechanism in SERS theory.

Graphical abstract: Charge transfer interactions of pyrazine with Ag12 clusters towards precise SERS chemical mechanism

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Jun 2018
Accepted
13 Aug 2018
First published
17 Aug 2018

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 16787-16794

Charge transfer interactions of pyrazine with Ag12 clusters towards precise SERS chemical mechanism

P. An, R. Anumula, H. Wu, J. Han and Z. Luo, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 16787 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR05253K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements