title: 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 mum have been grown on semiconductor wafers at room temperature through a simple galvanic reaction between an aqueous solution of AgNO(3) 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., Ga(2)O(3) and As(2)O(3)) 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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA. ygsun@anl.gov
authors.forename: Yugang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Gary P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Wiederrecht
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D012834:Silver