Surface-enhanced
Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has emerged as a highly
sensitive trace detection technique in recent decades, yet its exceptional
performance remains elusive in semiconductor materials due to the
intricate and ambiguous nature of the SERS mechanism. Herein, we have
synthesized MoS2 nanoflowers (NFs) decorated with Au nanoparticles
(NPs) by hydrothermal and redox methods to explore the size-dependence
SERS effect. This strategy enhances the interactions between the substrate
and molecules, resulting in exceptional uniformity and reproducibility.
Compared to the unadorned Au nanoparticles (NPs), the decoration of
Au NPs induces an n-type effect on MoS2, resulting in a
significant enhancement of the SERS effect. This augmentation empowers
MoS2 to achieve a low limit of detection concentration
of 2.1 × 10–9 M for crystal violet (CV) molecules
and the enhancement factor (EF) is about 8.52 × 106. The time-stability for a duration of 20 days was carried out, revealing
that the Raman intensity of CV on the MoS2/Au-6 substrate
only exhibited a reduction of 24.36% after undergoing aging for 20
days. The proposed mechanism for SERS primarily stems from the synergistic
interplay among the resonance of CV molecules, local surface plasma
resonance (LSPR) of Au NPs, and the dual-step charge transfer enhancement.
This research offers comprehensive insights into SERS enhancement
and provides guidance for the molecular design of highly sensitive
SERS systems.