Synthesis and application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering property of fist-like platinum microparticles

Platinum microparticles with fist-like shape were synthesized through the reduction of chloroplatinic acid (H2PtCl6) with absolute ethanol under hydrothermal atmosphere, whose diameters and lengths can be effectively controlled by varying H2PtCl6 concentration. Unlike previous methods for only synthesizing platinum nanoparticles of about 10 nm or even smaller, the use of the hydrothermal and surfactant-free system provides a shortcut strategy to prepare micron-sized platinum particles. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) investigation demonstrated that the microfists have SERS activity and similar SERS enhancement to an electrochemically roughened Pt electrode. We believe that the Pt microfists should be not only an ideal model to understand and calculate the SERS enhancement mechanism of electrochemically roughened transitional metal but also may find practical applications for electronics, photonics, and microdevices.