ABSTRACT
The first observation of the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect was done in 1974 by M. Fleischmann et al., who described an increase in Raman intensity of adsorbed pyridine on a rough silver electrode. The growth of Raman signal was attributed to the larger surface provided by the electrode roughness, causing a larger number of molecules to contribute to the Raman intensity. Standard and porous nanocubes were fabricated by following a sulfide-mediated polyol method, which involves silver reduction with ethylene glycol in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone. The shape and size of standard and porous nanocubes were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The nanoparticles shape appeared highly homogeneous with narrow size dispersion for both nanoparticle types. SERS properties of standard and porous nanocubes were investigated using 532 and 638 nm excitation wavelengths. In general, SERS signals provided by porous nanocubes are sharper and more intense as compared to the case of standard nanocubes.
