ZnO/Au Composite Nanoarrays As Substrates for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Detection

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C Vol. 114; no. 1; pp. 93 - 100
• Main Authors: Chen, Limiao, Luo, Linbao, Chen, Zhenhua, Zhang, Mingliang, Zapien, Juan Antonio, Lee, Chun Sing, Lee, Shuit Tong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 14.01.2010
• Subjects: C: Nanops and Nanostructures
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/jp908423v

Well-aligned ZnO nanoneedle and nanorod arrays were grown on an aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) buffer layer by chemical vapor deposition and used as templates for making gold-coated ZnO (ZnO/Au) composite nanoarrays. The coverage of Au nanoparticles on ZnO nanoneedle and nanorod was controlled by varying the concentration of Au precursor. High coverage led to the formation of ZnO/Au nanoneedle bundles. The ZnO/Au composite nanoarrays were applied as substrates in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurement. The SERS enhancement factor is mainly controlled by gold coverage and morphologies of the ZnO/Au nanoarrays. Their application in rapid detection of melamine in egg white is demonstrated. This SERS-based melamine detection is advantageous in that sample pretreatment is not needed. It showed the potential of the ZnO/Au nanoarrays as a convenient and robust SERS-active substrate for food safety monitoring.