Chemical Stability of Graphene Coated Silver Substrates for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a novel method to sense molecular and lattice vibrations at a high sensitivity. Although nanostructured silver surface provides intense SERS signals, the silver surface is unstable under acidic environment and heated environment. Graphene, a single atomic carbon layer, has a prominent stability for chemical agents, and its honeycomb lattice completely prevents the penetration of small molecules. Here, we fabricated a SERS substrate by combining nanostructured silver surface and single-crystal monolayer graphene (G-SERS), and focused on its chemical stability. The G-SERS substrate showed SERS even in concentrated hydrochloric acid (35-37%) and heated air up to 400 degrees C, which is hardly obtainable by normal silver SERS substrates. The chemically stable G-SERS substrate posesses a practical and feasible application, and its high chemical stability provides a new type of SERS technique such as molecular detections at high temperatures or in extreme acidic conditions.