Electrodeposition of Ag nanosheet- assembled microsphere@ Ag dendrite core-shell hierarchical architectures and their application in SERS

Ag core-shell hierarchical microstructures, with nanosheet-assembled microspheres as the core and dendrites coated on the surface, have been synthesized by electrodeposition. The growth mechanisms of these Ag microstructures have been systematically investigated through time-dependent morphological evolution. A transformation stage from the microspheres to the dendrites was found in the morphological evolution of Ag core-shell hierarchical microstructures, which was affected by the deposition time and voltage. Therefore, we obtained various Ag core-shell hierarchical microstructures, with adjustable ratios of the microsphere cores to the dendrite shells, by controlling the deposition voltage. Furthermore, the Ag core-shell hierarchical microstructures exhibit excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) ability, showing great potential as effective SERS substrates. © the Partner Organisations 2014.