HOW GAP DISTANCE BETWEEN GOLD NANOPARTICLES IN DIMERS AND TRIMERS ON METALLIC AND NON-METALLIC SERS SUBSTRATES CAN IMPACT SIGNAL ENHANCEMENT
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Date
2022
Authors
Arbuz, Alexandr
Sultangaziyev, Alisher
Rapikov, Alisher
Kunushpayeva, Zhanar
Bukasov, Rostislav
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nanoscale Advances
Abstract
The impact of variation in the interparticle gaps in dimers and trimers of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs),
modified with Raman reporter (2-MOTP), on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) intensity,
relative to the SERS intensity of a single AuNP, is investigated in this paper. The dimers, trimers, and
single particles are investigated on the surfaces of four substrates: gold (Au), aluminium (Al), silver (Ag)
film, and silicon (Si) wafer. The interparticle distance between AuNPs was tuned by selecting
mercaptocarboxylic acids of various carbon chain lengths when each acid forms a mixed SAM with 2-
MOTP. The SERS signal quantification was accomplished by combining maps of SERS intensity from
a Raman microscope, optical microscope images ( 100), and maps/images from AFM or SEM. In total,
we analysed 1224 SERS nanoantennas (533 dimers, 648 monomers, and 43 trimers). The average
interparticle gaps were measured using TEM. We observed inverse exponential trends for the Raman
intensity ratio and enhancement factor ratio versus gap distance on all substrates. Gold substrate,
followed by silicon, showed the highest Raman intensity ratio (9) and dimer vs. monomer enhancement
factor ratio (up to 4.5), in addition to the steepest inverse exponential curve. The results may help find
a balance between SERS signal reproducibility and signal intensity that would be beneficial for future
agglomerated NPs in SERS measurements. The developed method of 3 to 1 map combination by an
increase in image transparency can be used to study structure–activity relationships on various
substrates in situ, and it can be applied beyond SERS microscopy.
Description
Keywords
Type of access: Open Access, gold nanoparticles
Citation
Arbuz, A., Sultangaziyev, A., Rapikov, A., Kunushpayeva, Z., & Bukasov, R. (2022). How gap distance between gold nanoparticles in dimers and trimers on metallic and non-metallic SERS substrates can impact signal enhancement. Nanoscale Advances, 4(1), 268–280. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1na00114k