Titania Nanosheets as a Component of Reusable Substrates for Reproducible SERS Signal

Abstract

Titania nanosheets (TNS) represent 2D photocatalytic material, which can strongly bind with metal nanoparticles, and, therefore, materials based on it are promising in the development of reusable substrates for reproducible SERS. In the present research, titania nanosheets were obtained during cesium titanate exfoliation. Silver nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of nanosheets via AgNO3 solution reduction. The synthesis of the substrates with optimized parameters allows achieving an enhancement coefficient of up to 1.9 × 106 and the ability to detect molecules of rhodamine 6G with concentration of 10−8 M. Moreover, the obtained substrates show highly reproducible signals throughout the surface. Due to the photocatalytic properties of titania, the surface of the substrates can be cleaned after SERS measurement by UV irradiation, and the substrates can be used repeatedly.

Keywords

• titania nanosheets
• SERS
• photocatalysis
• 2D materials