Surfactantless Synthesis of Silver Nanoplates and Their Application in SERS

Abstract

Silver nanoplates with thicknesses of 50–70 nm and edge lengths ranging from 200 nm to 1 μm have been grown on semiconductor wafers at room temperature through a simple galvanic reaction between an aqueous solution of AgNO₃ and n-type GaAs. The as-grown Ag structures have chemically clean surfaces due to no surfactant or coordinating molecules being involved in the synthesis. Electron microscopy characterizations indicate that each Ag plate has rough surfaces and a half-moon morphology with one straight edge and one arclike edge. Systematic studies on varying reaction conditions reveal that the oxide (i.e., Ga₂O₃ and As₂O₃) layers of GaAs, generated in situ in the reactions, play an important role in assisting the growth of anisotropic nanoplates. The cleanliness of the surfaces of the Ag nanoplates is beneficial to attachment of interesting molecules on their surfaces for various applications, such as plasmonic-enhanced photophysical and photochemical processes and surface-enhanced spectroscopies.