Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of single-walled carbon nanotubes on modified silver electrode

A roughed silver electrode modified with gold/silver nanoparticles is used as a substrate, on which high quality SERS of SWCNTs are obtained, indicating that the modified silver electrode is a high-quality SERS-active substrate for SWCNTs. Some new bands that indicate the structure of SWCNTs were obtained. The gold/silver nanoparticles modified on the roughed silver electrode surface can not only make sure the strong adsorption of SWCNTs in this system but also play an important role in magnifying the surface local electric field near the silver electrode surface through resonant surface plasmon excitation. From the rich information on the modified silver electrode obtained from the SERS and the potential dependent SERS, we may deduce the probable SERS mechanism in the process. The theory and experiment results indicate that it is can be used as a new technique for monitoring synthesis quality of SWCNTs. The probable reasons are given. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.