Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance on salbutamol detection of colloidal multi-shaped silver nanoparticles

Monitoring the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) ability of multi-shaped silver nanoparticles (MAgNPs) in comparison with silver nanospheres (AgNSs), we carried out the synthesis of MAgNPs from the AgNS seeds via the etching-growth process. The MAgNPs contained diverse anisotropic shapes such as hexagonal, circular, triangular and deformed plates as well as particles in the wide range of sizes from 30 to 250 nm. The SERS spectra of salbutamol (Sal) in the presence of colloid MAgNPs, showing higher sensitivity than AgNSs with a minimum detectable concentration of Sal, was determined at 2.5 and 1.25 ng/µL with colloid MAgNPs on glass and Si/SiO 2 substrates, respectively. These results pointed out the shape of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their plasmonic resonance strongly affected by SERS performance. This study contributed to the development of the further facile and low-cost method for the SERS detection of Sal based on AgNPs.