The goal of this research was to develop optimal silver, gold, and copper nanoparticles for applications in surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRA). Various elongated nanoparticles were formed by oblique angle deposition (OAD) through evaporating silver, gold, or copper in vacuum onto CaF2 substrates at angles ranging from 750 to 800. These nanostructures were characterized with AFM, SEM, and UV/Vis-NIR spectroscopy. A monolayer of p-nitrobenzoic acid was deposited onto the gold nanostructures to determine the degree of vibrational enhancement in SEIRA. This OAD work on silver, gold, and copper metal nanoparticles (MNPs) showed SEIRA enhancement factors up to x5 better than MNP grown at incident. We have observed that SEIRA enhancement factors of close to x200 for elongated silver MNPs and enhancement factors of around x100 and x50 for elongated gold and copper MNPs, respectively. This work will influence a range of biological, medical, catalytic, environmental, and nanotechnological applications.

Growth of elongated silver, gold, and copper nanoparticles for applications in SEIRA

245th National Meeting (2013)

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