Ag nanoparticle/ZnO hollow nanosphere arrays: large scale synthesis and surface plasmon resonance effect induced Raman scattering enhancement

ZnO hollow nanosphere (HNS) arrays decorated with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated on silicon substrates using self-assembled monolayer polystyrene (PS) nanospheres as the template. The O2 plasma etching was introduced to manipulate the diameters of the ZnO HNSs. This fabrication method has the advantages of simplicity, large scale production, easy size and shape manipulations, low cost and bio-compatibility. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show that the obtained Ag NP–ZnO HNS hybrid structures are hexagonally arranged, with the uniform size and shape, and the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows that the ZnO HNS arrays are of high crystal quality and have a dominant orientation of <0001> direction. Resonant Raman scattering spectra reveal the multiphonon A1 (LO) modes of ZnO hollow nanospheres at 574, 1147 and 1725 cm−1. Enhanced resonant Raman scattering from the Ag NP modified ZnO HNSs was observed, indicating a strong energy coupling effect located at the metal/semiconductor interface. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) application for the Ag NP decorated ZnO HNS arrays was verified using a Rhodamine 6G (R6G) chromophore as a standard analyte, which is proved to be an effective SERS template for Raman signal detection. SERS substrates with different structures have been compared, and the Ag NP modified ZnO HNS system exhibits superior Raman scattering enhancements induced by the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. The SERS mechanism was well explained by theoretical calculation results. This study is helpful to fabricate controllable Ag NP arrays using the ZnO HNS as the supporting structure and to understand the mechanism of bio-sensing enhancements due to the LSPR effect originated from the metal NPs and metal/semiconductor interface.