Large 2D-arrays of size-controllable silver nanoparticles prepared by hybrid deposition

Two main results are presented in this paper. (i) Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with uniform size-distribution and controllability in the range of 20–50 nm were synthesized by seeding and growing at ambient conditions. The single-crystal Ag nano-seeds were created by reduction of AgNO₃ in presence of citrate surfactant at 70 °C. Then, importantly, the fresh AgCl precursor was used in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone to adjust the reaction rate with ascorbic acid to generate Ag for growing on the surface of single-crystal Ag nano-seeds. The AgNPs size could be well-controlled by varying the amount of Ag nano-seeds while keeping the AgCl precursor concentration to be constant. (ii) The large 2D-arrays with homogeneous and dense monolayers of AgNPs were prepared on ITO substrates by hybrid method, in which the key technological point is the surface functionalization of AgNPs using mixed alkanethiols (dodecanethiol:octadecanethiol = 6:1). We have used the fabricated 2D-arrays from the 50 nm AgNPs as a surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate to take the Raman scattering spectra of rhodamine B (RhB), glucose and viral pathogen (H5N1) at very low concentrations of 10⁻¹⁰ M, 10⁻¹² M and 4 ng μ l⁻¹, respectively. (paper)