Iron
is the most abundant element by mass in the Earth. Despite
being an inexpensive material used in a wide range of applications,
its role as reducing agent for the synthesis of plasmonic nanoparticles
has not been explored in detail. In the present work, we have studied
the use of iron(II) sulfate as a green reductant for the synthesis
of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the absence or presence of different
molecules. First, we demonstrate that iron(II), in the absence of
any additive or capping agent, is able to reduce Au(III) to generate
AuNPs. However, the reduction yield is not 100% and the obtained NPs
are coated by an Fe(II)/Fe(III) oxo/hydroxo sulfate shell. Nevertheless,
the presence of polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) in the reaction medium
prevents the growth of this inorganic shell and leads to total Au
salt reduction. Besides, PSS seems to play a role in the nucleation
and growth steps since it induces the formation of raspberry-like
AuNPs. Additionally, we have investigated the effect of modulating
the formal redox potential of Fe(II), through its complexation with
citrate, in the synthesis of AuNPs. Interestingly, we have found that
the presence of citrate gives rise to uniform pseudospherical AuNPs
with well-defined optical properties, indicating that citrate may
alter the nucleation step. Finally, to explore the applicability of
these green nanomaterials for SERS applications, the SERS performance
of the obtained AuNPs has been analyzed using 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP)
as model analyte.