The effectiveness of photocatalytic processes is dictated largely by plasmonic materials with the capability to enhance light absorption as well as the energy conversion efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate how to improve the plasmonic photocatalytic properties of TiO2/Al nano-void arrays by overlapping the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) modes with the TiO2 band gap. The plasmonic TiO2/Al arrays exhibit superior photocatalytic activity boasting an enhancement of 7.2 folds. The underlying mechanisms concerning the radiative energy transfer and interface energy transfer processes are discussed. Both processes occur at the TiO2/Al interface and their contributions to photocatalysis are evaluated. The results are important to the optimization of aluminum plasmonic materials in photocatalytic applications.

We design and fabricate a simple self-powered system to collect analyte molecules in fluids for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection. The system is based on catalytic Au/SiO/Ti/Ag-layered microengines by employing rolled-up nanotechnology. Pronounced SERS signals are observed on microengines with more carrier molecules compared with the same structure without automatic motions.

Surface enhanced fluorescence (SEF) utilizes the local electromagnetic environment to enhance fluorescence from the analyte on the surface of a solid substrate with nanostructures. While the detection sensitivity of SEF is improved with the development of nano-techniques, detection of multiple analytes by SEF is still a challenge due to the compromise between the high enhancing efficiency and broad response bandwidth. In this article, a high-efficiency SEF substrate with broad response bandwidth is obtained by embedding silver in an aluminum film to produce additional bonding and anti-bonding hybridized states. The bimetallic film is fabricated by ion implantation and the ion energy and fluence are tailored to control subsurface location of the fabricated bimetallic nanostructures. The process circumvents the inherent limit of aluminum materials and extends the plasmon band of aluminum from deep UV to visible range. Fluorescence from different dyes excited by 310 nm to 555 nm is enhanced by up to 11 folds on the single bimetallic film and the result is theoretically confirmed by finite-difference time-domain simulations. This work demonstrates that bimetallic film can be used for optical detection of multiple analytes.

This work reports an efficient method to fabricate large-area flexible substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) application. Our technique is based on a single-step direct imprint process via porous anodic alumina stamps. Periodic hexagonal arrangements of porous anodic alumina stamps are transferred to the polyethylene terephthalate substrates by mechanically printing process. Printed nanocaps will turn into “hot spots” for electromagnetic enhancement with a deposited gold film by high vacuum evaporation. The gaps between the nanocaps are controllable with a tight correspondence to the thickness of the deposited gold, which dramatically influence the enhancement factor. After covered with a single-layer graphene sheet, the gold nanocap substrate can be further optimized with an extra enhancement of Raman signals, and it is available for the trace detection of probe molecules. This convenient, simple, and low-cost method of making flexible SERS-active substrates potentially opens a way towards biochemical analysis and disease detection.

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