Large-scale nanoporous metal-coated silica aerogels for high SERS effect improvement.

ABSTRACT: We investigate the optical properties and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) characteristics of metal-coated silica aerogels. Silica aerogels were fabricated by easily scalable sol-gel and supercritical drying processes. Metallic nanogaps were formed on the top surface of the nanoporous silica network by controlling the thickness of the metal layer. The optimized metallic nanogap structure enabled strong confinement of light inside the gaps, which is a suitable property for SERS effect. We experimentally evaluated the SERS enhancement factor with the use of benzenethiol as a probe molecule. The enhancement factor reached 7.9 × 10⁷ when molecules were adsorbed on the surface of the 30 nm silver-coated aerogel. We also theoretically investigated the electric field distributi

SUBMITTER: Kim C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6181977 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature