Simple method for electrochemical preparation of silver dendrites used as active and stable SERS substrate

This paper reports that a new SERS-active silver film on the surfaces of a series of electric material has been prepared by an electrochemical technique in an aqueous solution of AgNO3. With scanning electron microscopy, the morphology of the silver film is a treelike structure. By SERS measurements, the film of silver dendrites is shown to be an excellent substrate, demonstrating significant enhancement effect, spatial uniformity and good stability. As the fabrication process of this substrate is very simple and inexpensive, it is proposed that this method may be used in large-scale preparation of substrates that have been widely applied in Raman analysis. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.