am201747d_si_001.pdf (804.55 kB)
Aqueously Dispersed Silver Nanoparticle-Decorated Boron Nitride Nanosheets for Reusable, Thermal Oxidation-Resistant Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) Devices
journal contribution
posted on 2012-02-22, 00:00 authored by Yi Lin, Christopher E. Bunker, K. A. Shiral Fernando, John W. ConnellThe impurity-free aqueous dispersions of boron nitride
nanosheets
(BNNS) allowed the facile preparation of silver (Ag) nanoparticle-decorated
BNNS by chemical reduction of an Ag salt with hydrazine in the presence
of BNNS. The resultant Ag–BNNS nanohybrids remained dispersed
in water, allowing convenient subsequent solution processing. By using
substrate transfer techniques, Ag–BNNS nanohybrid thin film
coatings on quartz substrates were prepared and evaluated as reusable
surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensors that were robust
against repeated solvent washing. In addition, because ofthe unique
thermal oxidation-resistant properties of the BNNS, the sensor devices
may be readily recycled by short-duration high temperature air oxidation
to remove residual analyte molecules in repeated runs. The limiting
factor associated with the thermal oxidation recycling process was
the Ostwald ripening effect of Ag nanostructures.