Surface‐Buckling‐Enhanced 3D Metal/Semiconductor SERS‐Active Device for Detecting Organic Chemicals

Abstract

A novel 3D metal/semiconductor nanostructured surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)‐active substrate is constructed through Ag nanoparticles decoration of flower‐like ZnO nanorods (fZnOs) on a buckled substrate. A thermal treatment is applied to induce substrate buckling and is followed by ZnO hydrothermal synthesis and Ag reduction, resulting in the production of a buckled Ag/fZnOs SERS‐active device. In addition to providing a high areal density of hotspots, surface buckling enhanced the hydrophilicity of the Ag/fZnO composite surface, which aided the adsorption of probe molecules. Buckling also facilitated the formation of eddies in the depressions on the surface, promoting the capture and accumulation of chemicals. Compared with flat Ag/fZnOs, the buckle‐enhanced SERS effects can increase their enhancement factor by over 103 times. The buckled Ag/fZnOs SERS‐active device is recyclable, stable, and inexpensive and is found to be highly sensitive for the detection of Rhodamine 6G and commercial pesticides, achieving a low detection limit of 10−9 m and a high enhancement factor of 2.43 × 108.