Graphene Oxide/Gold Nanorod Nanocomposite for Stable Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Author(s)

Vianna, Pilar G. ^[1] ; Grasseschi, Daniel ^[1] ; Costa, Greice K. B. ^{[2, 3]} ; Carvalho, Isabel C. S. ^[2] ; Domingues, Sergio H. ^[1] ; Fontana, Jake ^[4] ; de Matos, Christiano J. S. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Prebiteriana Mackenzie, MackGraphe Graphene & Nanomat Res Ctr, BR-01302907 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Pontificia Univ Catolica Rio de Janeiro, Dept Phys, BR-22451900 Rio De Janeiro - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Rio de Janeiro, Photon & Instrumentat Lab, BR-21941598 Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

^[4] Naval Res Lab, 4555 Overlook Ave SW, Washington, DC 20375 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ACS PHOTONICS; v. 3, n. 6, p. 1027-1035, JUN 2016.
• Web of Science Citations: 22

Abstract

We introduce a graphene oxide/gold nanorod nano composite as a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate that suppresses the usual temporal intensity fluctuations, commonly referred to as blinking. The temporal stability of the SERS spectra from the nanocomposite is statistically determined using the coefficient of variation of the integrated spectra. We demonstrate that, by introducing graphene oxide, the coefficient of variation from the nanocomposite is five times smaller when compared to gold nanorods without graphene oxide, which is attributed to the removal of the nanorod's surfactant from plasmonic hot spots due to graphene oxide surfactant interaction. The resulting nanocomposite can, then, be used as a reliable substrate for precise SEAS chemical analysis. The nanocomposite is, therefore, analyzed as a SERS substrate for the detection of Rhodamine 640, providing a 4-fold stability improvement relative to gold nanorods without graphene oxide, while the dye's Raman signal is enhanced both by SERS and by resonant excitation. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/11779-4 - Plasmonic and nonlinear effects in graphene coupled to optical waveguides
• Grantee: Christiano José Santiago de Matos
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 15/10405-3 - Synthesis, characterization, functionalization and ordering of metallic nanostructures
• Grantee: Daniel Grasseschi
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 12/50259-8 - Graphene: photonics and opto-electronics: UPM-NUS collaboration
• Grantee: Antonio Helio de Castro Neto
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - SPEC Program