Synthesis of Fe3O4/SiO2/Ag nanoparticles and its application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering

To obtain a recyclable surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) material, we developed a composite of Fe3O4/SiO2/Ag with core/shell/particles structure. The designed particles were synthesized via an ultrasonic route. The Raman scattering signal of Fe3O4 could be shielded by increasing the thickness of the SiO2 layer to 60 nm. Dye rhodamine B (RB) was chosen as probe molecule to test the SERS effect of the synthesized Fe3O4/SiO2/Ag particles. On the synthesized Fe3O4/SiO2/Ag particles, the characteristic Raman bands of RB could be observed when the RB solution was diluted to 5 ppm (1x10-5 M). Furthermore, the synthesized particles could keep their efficiency till four cycles. -- Graphical Abstract: Fe3O4/SiO2/Ag particles, a recyclable surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) material, were designed and synthesized via a simple ultrasonic route. Display Omitted