The positive influence of boron-doped graphene for its supported Au clusters: enhancement of SERS and oxygen molecule adsorption

The interactions between Au clusters and graphene sheets with and without doping have been studied systematically. It is found that B-doped graphene is a good support for Au clusters, not only because of the charge transfer from the graphene sheet to its supported Au clusters, but also due to its stronger interaction at the interface resulting from the doped B atom, which will facilitate more electrons being transferred to the upper surface of the Au cluster. This is good for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and molecule oxygen adsorption, beneficial to the material preparation and apparatus design for high active SERS substrates and nano-catalysts.