General Synthesis of Large-Area Transition Metal Nitride Porous Arrays for Highly Sensitive Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Substrates with Ultrahigh Durability

A general polymerization-induced strategy is developed to synthesize large-area (100 cm(2)) transition metal nitride (TMN: TiN, MoN, WN, VN) porous arrays with high specific surface area (187.5-215.5 m(2) g(-1)) for the first time, which also can be used to prepare TMN porous arrays uniformly doped with multiple elements. The formation of homogeneous organic/inorganic hybrid polymer precursors is a key factor in forming such TMN porous arrays. The TiN porous arrays exhibit an intense blue-light localized surface plasmon resonance effect centered at 508 nm. The TiN porous arrays also show a remarkable surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect with a Raman enhanced factor of 5.7 x 10(7) and the lowest detection limit of 1.0 x 10(-12) m. They show ultrahigh corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance, which are not available on traditional noble metal and semiconductor SERS substrates. These results suggest the possibility of the development of effective SERS substrates by using cheap TiN to replace the expensive commercial Au substrates.