title: Hollow Au/Ag nanostars displaying broad plasmonic resonance and high surface-enhanced Raman sensitivity.
abstract: Bimetallic Au/Ag hollow nanostar (HNS) nanoparticles with different morphologies were prepared in this work. These nanoplatforms were obtained by changing the experimental conditions (concentration of silver and chemical reductors, hydroxylamine and citrate) and by using Ag nanostars as template nanoparticles (NPs) through galvanic replacement. The goal of this research was to create bimetallic Au/Ag star-shaped nanoparticles with advanced properties displaying a broader plasmonic resonance, a cleaner exposed surface, and a high concentration of electromagnetic hot spots on the surface provided by the special morphology of nanostars. The size, shape, and composition of Ag as well as their optical properties were studied by extinction spectroscopy, hyperspectral dark field microscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Finally, the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity of these HNS was investigated by using thioflavin T, a biomarker of the β-amyloid fibril formation, responsible for Alzheimer's disease. Lucigenin, a molecule displaying different SERS activities on Au and Ag, was also used to explore the presence of these metals on the NP surface. Thus, a relationship between the morphology, plasmon resonance and SERS activity of these new NPs was made.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Estructura de la Materia. IEM-CSIC, Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid, Spain. s.sanchez.cortes@csic.es.
authors.forename: Adianez
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garcia-Leis
authors.forename: Armida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torreggiani
authors.forename: Jose Vicente
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Garcia-Ramos
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Cortes
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance
chemical_list: D012834:Silver; D006046:Gold