Rapid fabrication of three-dimensional flower-like gold microstructures on flexible substrate for SERS applications

In this work, hierarchical flower-like gold microstructures (HFGMs) are synthesized on a flexible PET film substrate by electrochemical deposition method as a SERS sensor without surfactant or directing agent. The effects of deposition current and electrolyte concentration on morphology and SERS performance are discussed to find the optimal preparation conditions. SERS activity of samples with different morphologies was investigated by comparing experiments and the mechanism was discussed. It shows the HFGMs with 3D nanoflakes and nanosheet tips present outstanding SERS activity with ultrasensitive detection limits. The lowest concentration of R6G that can be detected is 10^-10 M, and the characteristic signals of thiram can be detected as low as 0.1 ppm. The HFGMs substrate show great potential of application in trace detection by SERS.