Ag nanoparticles decorated ZnO: Al nanoneedles as a high-performance surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate

This present study used a simple aqueous chemical growth method to synthesize Al-doped ZnO (ZnO: Al) nanoneedles on ZnO seeds/glass substrates. The surface morphology and length of ZnO: Al nano-structures can suitably control by the concentration of aluminum sulfate. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect of Ag sputtering durations on the ZnO: Al nanoneedles and the concentration of aluminum sulfate on the ZnO: Al/Ag heterostructures systematically investigated. The ZnO: Al/Ag het-erostructures (2 mM aluminum sulfate and 60 s sputtering time) exhibited a more substantial enhancement, a lower detection limit (10(-10) M), excellent uniformity, high reusability and stability for the SERS detection of rhodamine 6G molecule. The ZnO: Al/Ag heterostructures can also use to detect the lower concentration of melamine (10(-9) M) and 5-fluorouracil (10(-7) M). ZnO: Al/Ag heterostructures can provide a low-cost and straight-forward manufacturing method with high enhancement, low detection limit, excellent uniformity, and reusability for the SERS applications in areas of chemical and medicine. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.