A facile method for preparation of gold nanoparticles with high SERS efficiency in the presence of inositol hexaphosphate

This paper described a facile method for preparation of gold nanoparticles with high efficient SERS activity within short reaction time in the presence of an environmentally benign and low-cost reagent named inositol hexaphosphate (IP6). IP6 acted as a tunable cross-linker to obtain a suitable separation (about 2 nm) between the neighboring particles for certain surface plasmons by adjusting the dosages of IP6. When the molar ratio of Au to IP6 was 10:1, gold particles presented in nano-pearl-necklace pattern, demonstrating the high enhancement factor (>107) for 2-mercaptopyridine (2-Mpy) Raman scattering and high stability (>2 months).

Graphical abstractA stable gold particles in nano-pearl-necklace pattern with the high enhancement factor (>107) for 2-mercaptopyridine Raman scattering is prepared in the presence of inositol hexaphosphate as a tunable cross-linker.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (130 K)Download as PowerPoint slide