High-Performance SERS Substrate Based on Hierarchical 3D Cu Nanocrystals with Efficient Morphology Control

Xiaohui Zhao; Min Deng; Gaofeng Rao; Yichao Yan; Chunyang Wu; Yu Jiao; Anqing Deng; Chaoyi Yan; Jianwen Huang; Songhao Wu; Wei Chen; Tianyu Lei; Ping Xu; Weidong He; Jie Xiong

doi:10.1002/smll.201802477

High-Performance SERS Substrate Based on Hierarchical 3D Cu Nanocrystals with Efficient Morphology Control

Small. 2018 Sep;14(38):e1802477. doi: 10.1002/smll.201802477. Epub 2018 Aug 26.

Authors

Xiaohui Zhao¹, Min Deng¹, Gaofeng Rao¹, Yichao Yan¹, Chunyang Wu¹, Yu Jiao², Anqing Deng³, Chaoyi Yan¹, Jianwen Huang¹, Songhao Wu⁴, Wei Chen¹, Tianyu Lei¹, Ping Xu⁵, Weidong He⁴, Jie Xiong¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, P. R. China.
² School of Applied and Chemical Engineering, Xichang College, Xichang, 615053, P. R. China.
³ Faculty of Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310012, P. R. China.
⁴ School of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, P. R. China.
⁵ MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, P. R. China.

PMID: 30146774
DOI: 10.1002/smll.201802477

Abstract

Cu nanocrystals of various shapes are synthesized via a universal, eco-friendly, and facile colloidal method on Al substrates using hexadecylamine (HDA) as a capping agent and glucose as a reductant. By tuning the concentration of the capping agent, hierarchical 3D Cu nanocrystals show pronounced surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) through the concentrated hot spots at the sharp tips and gaps due to the unique 3D structure and the resulting plasmonic couplings. Intriguingly, 3D sword-shaped Cu crystals have the highest enhancement factor (EF) because of their relatively uniform size distribution and alignment. This work opens new pathways for efficiently realizing morphology control for Cu nanocrystals as highly efficient SERS platforms.

Keywords: Cu nanocrystals; colloidal chemistry; morphology control; surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't