Super-SERS-active and highly effective antimicrobial Ag nanodendrites.
We have developed simple and green electrochemistry to synthesize Ag nanostructures with high purity, good crystallinity and smooth surface for applications as super-SERS (surface-enhanced Raman scattering), SERS-active substrates and with highly effective antimicrobial activities. This synthesis takes place in a clean and slow reaction environment without any chemical additives, which ensures an ultrahigh active surface of the as-synthesized Ag nanostructures owing to their purity, good crystallinity and smooth morphology. Using this method, we synthesized nearly perfect Ag nanodendrites (NDs), which exhibit super-SERS sensitivity when they are used to detect the SERS spectra of rhodamine 6G at concentrations as low as 5 × 10(-16) M, and have an ultrahigh electromagnetic (EM) enhancement factor of the order of 10(13), breaking through the theoretical limit of EM enhancement. Meanwhile, the as-synthesized Ag NDs possess highly effective antimicrobial activities for Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus, which are over 10 times that of silver nanoparticles. Additionally, the basic physics and chemistry involved in the fabrication of Ag nanostructures are pursued. These investigations show that silver nanostructures with highly active surfaces can make the most of Ag nanostructures functioning as super-SERS-active substrates and multiple antibiotics.
State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Institute of Optoelectronic and Functional Composite Materials, Nanotechnology Research Center, School of Physics & Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, PR China.
H B
HB
Li
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P
Liu
Y
Y
Liang
J
J
Xiao
G W
GW
Yang
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D012235:Rhodamines; C026188:rhodamine 6G; D012834:Silver