The effective number of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) active hot spots on plasmonic nanostructures is the most crucial factor in ensuring high sensitivity in SERS sensing platform. Here we demonstrate a chemical etching method to increase the surface roughness of one-dimensional Ag nanowires, targeted at creating more SERS active hot spots along Ag nanowire's longitudinal axis for increased SERS detection sensitivity. Silver nanowires were first synthesized by the conventional polyol method and then subjected to chemical etching by NH(4)OH and H(2)O(2) mixture. The surfaces of silver nanowires were anisotropically etched off to create miniature "beads on a string" features with increased surface roughness while their crystallinity was preserved. Mapping of single-nanowire SERS measurements showed that the chemical etching method has overcome the limitation of conventional one-dimensional Ag nanowires with limited SERS active area at the tips to produce etched Ag nanowires with an increase in Raman hot spots and polarization-independent SERS signals across tens of micrometers length scale.

The detection of explosives in seawater is of great interest. We compared response single-, few-, and multilayer graphene nanoribbons and graphite microparticle-based electrodes toward the electrochemical reduction of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). We optimized parameters such as accumulation time, accumulation potential, and pH. We found that few-layer graphene exhibits about 20% enhanced signal for TNT after accumulation when compared to multilayer graphene nanoribbons. However, graphite microparticle-modified electrode provides higher sensitivity, and there was no significant difference in the performance of single-, few-, and multilayer graphene nanoribbons and graphite microparticles for the electrochemical detection of TNT. We established the limit of detection of TNT in untreated seawater at 1 μg/mL.

Graphene has aroused the interest of scientists all over the world. This single sheet of sp 2 -bonded carbon exhibits unparalleled electronic, [1,2] optical, [3,4] and mechanical [5] properties. The electronic properties vary based on the number of layers of graphene, with single-layer graphene being a semi-metallic conductor and multilayer graphene a metallic conductor. [6] Significant effort has been made in producing graphene-based electrodes for electrochemistry, both for sensing and biosensing applications and for energy storage. [7,8] These efforts are somehow more challenging than those that study many other materials and physical properties since, in electrochemistry, bulk quantities of materials are usually needed. The method of preparing bulk quantities of single-layer graphene emerged only recently [9]

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This report compares the electroanalytical performances of single- (G-SL), few- (G-FL), and multilayer graphene (G-ML), graphite microparticles, and edge-plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes in terms of sensitivity, linearity, and repeatability. We show that in the case of differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) detection of ascorbic acid, the sensitivity of a G-SL electrode is about 30% greater than that of G-ML and about 40% greater than graphite microparticles. However, in the case of DPV determination of uric acid, sensitivity is practically the same for all (G-SL, G-FL, and G-ML) and, importantly, the graphite microparticles do provide higher sensitivity than graphenes do for this analyte. Graphenes also do not provide a significant advantage in terms of repeatability. We pose the question of whether the efforts leading to the bulk method of producing single-layer graphene are justified for electroanalytical applications.