Photo-Induced Charge Transfer Enhancement for SERS in a SiO2–Ag–Reduced Graphene Oxide System

Understanding and controlling the disorder in materials, especially the disorder caused by structural composition and doping effects, are important keys to studying the optical characteristics of materials. In this study, a SiO2–Ag–reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite structure was prepared by a simple wet chemical method, in which Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and SiO2 were decorated onto the surface of rGO. The introduction of Si atoms can control not only the plasmon effect of Ag NPs but also, more importantly, the defect concentration of rGO. The formation of defects causes the rGO structure to enter a metastable state, which facilitates charge separation and transfer in the system. It is worth noting that changes in defect concentration can affect the energy band position of rGO; therefore, controlling the defect concentration can be used to achieve charge transfer resonance coupling. This study not only revealed the ultrahigh surface-enhanced Raman scattering activity of the substrate structure but also elucidated in detail the effect of the crystallinity of this rGO-based composite system on its optical properties.