Abstract-Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-gold nanoparticle composite films were synthetized in situ by using a simple method based on the reduction of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) by the PDMS membrane. The technological parameters which affect the gold nanoparticle formation on the membrane (namely the concentration of the HAuCl4 solution, the ratio of curing agent, the incubation time and the temperature) were investigated, the resulting nanoparticle films were characterized with optical spectrophotometry. The possibility to utilize the nanocomposite membranes as sensing elements in plasmonics sensors (based on localised surface plasmon resonance -LSPR) and as surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates is discussed in detail
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)–gold/silver nanoparticle composite films were synthetized in situ by using a simple method, which is based on the reduction of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) or silver nitrate solution (AgNO3) by the PDMS membrane. A method to monitor the development of the plasmonic absorbance peak in situ (during the synthesis of the nanoparticles) is introduced in order to provide a convenient way to investigate the effect of the technological parameters on the position of the resulting peak. The resulting composite films were tested as SERS substrates at two excitation wavelengths (488 nm, 785 nm) and the preliminary results indicate that they are promising candidates for this application, with high sensitivities accompanied by cheap fabrication costs.
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