Facile and controlled electrochemical route to three-dimensional hierarchical dendritic gold nanostructures

In this work, Au hierarchical dendrites (HDs) were prepared by one-step electrodeposition with the assistance of cytosine. This approach is simple, fast, feasible, controllable and cost-effective, without any template or surfactant. The as-prepared Au nanocrystals were applied for SERS amplification detection of Pb2+ with high sensitivity.