Effects of Atomic Geometry and Electronic Structure of Platinum Surfaces on Molecular Adsorbates Studied by Gap-Mode SERS

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of organic monolayers were measured on various types of polycrystalline and single crystalline Pt substrates with nanometric or atomic surface features, including heteroepitaxial Pt monolayers, using sphere-plane type nanogap structures. Although atomic geometry and electronic structures of a metal surface significantly influence metal–molecule interactions, such effects are often hindered in conventional SERS measured on a roughened surface because of the spectral information averaging at various adsorption sites. In this study, the use of atomically defined Pt surfaces revealed detailed surface effects; the observed preferential adsorption geometry on each surface was well explained by atomic surface arrangements. The peak shift of the intramolecular vibration in the anchor group was in good agreement with the variation of the d-band center of Pt substrates. Moreover, in electrochemical SERS study the Stark shift of an extramolecular vibrational mode at around 400 cm^–1, which is not accessible in infrared absorption spectroscopy, was monitored on an atomically defined heteroepitaxial Pt monolayer electrode.