Facile preparation of silver nanoparticle films as an efficient surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate

Here, we report a new and facile method to prepare silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) film for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based sensing. The porous Ni foam was used as a template to generate high quality of Ag NPs by seed-mediated growth of metallic nanoparticles. The preparation process is very economic and environment-friendly, can achieve the recovery of the raw materials. We found that the type of silver-plating solution and the growth time are two key factors to determine the magnitude of SERS signal enhancement. Using rhodamine 6G (R6G) and 4-animothiophenol (4-ATP) as probe molecules, the created Ag NP films exhibited relatively high enhancement ability, good stability, and well reproducibility. The synthesized SERS-active substrate was further used to detect melamine molecules, an illegal additive in infant milk powder, and the limitation of detection can reach 1 μM.