Facile synthesis of size-controllable gold nanoflowers on carbon nanotube sheets as high-performance flexible SERS sensors

Abstract

Flexible surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates are assembled by flexible matrices and plasmonic metal nanocrystals. Gold nanoflowers (AuNFs), typically multi-branched nanostructures, show fascinating strong localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties, but often involve tedious processing strategies. In this work, we report a simple one-pot synthesis approach for AuNF–carbon nanotube (CNT) sheet hybrid composites. By using scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/transmission electron microscopy (TEM)/X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization, we found that gold nanoflowers consist of a spherical core with highly (111)-oriented plate-like petals, based on which we propose a growth mechanism that branched polyethyleneimine and bromine ions synergistically promote the formation of gold nanoflowers on the CNT support. The SERS platform made of AuNFs–CNT sheets can effectively detect the analyte of Congo Red (CR) at concentrations as low as 10−8 M with an enhancement factor of 1.1 × 106. Two orders of magnitude of the SERS performance enhancement are attributed to the strong adsorption of molecules by the substrate and the large surface area, spikes and sharp edges of the nanocrystals.

Graphical abstract: Facile synthesis of size-controllable gold nanoflowers on carbon nanotube sheets as high-performance flexible SERS sensors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Aug 2024
Accepted
28 Nov 2024
First published
29 Nov 2024

New J. Chem., 2025, Advance Article

Facile synthesis of size-controllable gold nanoflowers on carbon nanotube sheets as high-performance flexible SERS sensors

Z. Xiao, X. Li, R. Yang, W. Fang, X. Shen, Y. Cao and W. Xin, New J. Chem., 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D4NJ03687E

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