Toward the Limitation of Dealloying: Full Spectrum Responsive Ultralow Density Nanoporous Gold for Plasmonic Photocatalytic SERS

Abstract

Plasmon-mediated chemical reaction has a great potential to create self-cleaning surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. However, few works have been reported to promote this goal. Here, we report ultralow density nanoporous gold (ULDNPG) that possesses an impressive full spectrum responsive characteristic with a reflectivity lower than 5% in the waveband of 300–900 nm. ULDNPG was fabricated by a sandwich dealloying strategy from ultradilute Au–Ag solid solutions with the Au content as low as 1–5 at.%. The prepared ULDNPG presents excellent SERS properties, including high sensitivity, high uniformity, and reproducibility. The full spectrum responsive characteristic of ULDNPG leads to an obvious plasmonic photocatalytic activity. The short lifetime of the SP-excited hot carriers causes a restricted self-cleaning SERS property and a strong photothermal effect for ULDNPG structures.

Towards practical and sustainable SERS: a review of recent developments in the construction of multifunctional enhancing substrates

“…It is worth noting that visible-light induced substrate regeneration can also be achieved with just noble metal nanomaterials using plasmon-induced photocatalytic reactions. 244,245 For example, Postnikov, Lyutakov, et al designed bimetallic Au/Pt films, which enabled the detection of dibenzothiophene in biodiesel and could be regenerated with solar-light irradiation. 245 As shown in Figure 17A, the bimetallic films were constructed by spin coating SU-8 polymer onto glass substrates, which allowed periodical patterns to be formed via laser lithography.…”

Ethanol Electrooxidation on an Island-Like Nanoporous Gold/Palladium Electrocatalyst in Alkaline Media: Electrocatalytic Properties and an In Situ Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Study

“…As we have described elsewhere, 29 the first step is to prepare an Au−Ag alloy film. An Au−Ag alloy film was deposited on ITO glass substrates by the direct-current magnetron cosputtering technique.…”

“…of Pd Plating for INPG/Pd. As we have described elsewhere, 29 Au−Ag alloy samples were electrolytically dealloyed at a constant voltage of 0.67 V (Figure S1), followed by further corrosion in a HNO 3 solution to obtain INPG. INPG, formed after corrosion of the Au−Ag alloy, presents an island structure with many nanopores inside the islands (Figure S2).…”

Rh in the gap: maximizing E-field enhancement within nanorod heterodimers

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Such hot spots are especially attractive for surface-enhanced spectroscopies, plasmonic heating, as well as plasmon-enhanced photocatalysis, where plasmonic excitation can increase both reaction rate and selectivity. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] While the best plasmonic materials (e.g. Ag, Au) have limited use for heterogeneous catalysis, most transition metal catalysts are poor plasmonic materials.…”