One-step synthesis of Poly(amic acid)/ZnO composite particles and its SERS applications

Raspberry like structured PAA/ZnO microsphere were realized by coating the ZnO nanoparticles onto the surface of PAA microsphere via a novel solution method. The obtained materials were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption measurement. It was shown that ZnO nanoparticles were successfully grown on the surface of PAA microsphere. The absorption band of PAA/ZnO raspberry microsphere showed a large redshift comparing to pure ZnO nanoparticles, indicating the strong interfacial interaction between PAA and ZnO. This approach was simple, mild and readily scaled up, affording a simple method for the synthesis of raspberry like structure. The resulting Poly(amic acid)/ZnO composite structures could be used as a substrate for surface enhanced Raman scattering(SERS).