Rapid and large-scale synthesis of pitaya-like silver nanostructures as highly efficient surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates

►Pitaya-like silver nanostructures (PSNs) were obtained by a facile chemical method. ► The morphology of as-prepared products is dependent on the reaction parameters. ► PSNs exhibit a high detection sensitivity of SERS for rhodamine 6G (R6G). ► The PSNs can be used for the analysis of R6G.