Synthesis of Dendritic Silver Nanoparticles and Their Applications as SERS Substrates

摘要

The silver nanoparticles are synthesized by electrodeposition in ultradilute Ag+ concentration electrolyte under high overpotential. The as prepared Ag nanoparticles, with the sizes ranging from 20 to 30 nm, are arrayed orderly and formed dendritic morphology. The formation of this special dendritic nanoparticle structure can be contributed to the relatively high growth rate and the preferential growth directions along 111 due to the high overpotential, as well as the relative small number of Ag+ ions arriving at the Ag crystal surface per unit time due to the ultradilute Ag+ concentration. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) experiments reveal that the as-prepared dendritic Ag nanoparticles possess high SERS properties and can be used as a candidate substrate for practical SERS applications to detect the Rhodamine 6G molecules.