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SERS detection and characterization of uranyl ion sorption on  silver nanorods wrapped with Al2O3 layers

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Abstract

Aligned silver nanorods wrapped with Al2O3 layers about 0.85, 1.54 nm thickness were utilized to study the SERS response and adsorption behavior of uranyl ion. Relatively broad and asymmetric SERS bands were observed due to the contribution of several hydrolyzed uranyl complexes and multiple coordination between uranyl complexes and SERS substrates. The mechanism of sorption on SERS substrates is discussed. The effect of the pH value of sample solutions was also studied. Results show that the Al2O3 layers enhance the stability of silver nanorod. It is found that the Al2O3 layer is consumed in acidic or basic solutions, while the SERS performance of silver nanord is maintained. Uranyl ion can be quantified by this method in concentration down to 10−9 M.

Schematic of an AgNR@Al2O3 substrate prepared by oblique angle deposition (OAD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques in order to study the SERS response of uranyl species. It shows an excellent sensitivity with a detectable concentration down to 1 nM.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the funds of China Academy of Engineering Physics (TCSQ2016203), Radiochemical Discipline 909 Funds by China Academy of Engineering Physics (no. XK909-2), and the Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21501157).

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Author notes

  1. Jiaolai Jiang and Lingwei Ma contributed equally to this paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Materials, China Academy of Engineering Physics, P. O. Box No.9-11, Mianyang, Sichuan, 621907, People’s Republic of China

    Jiaolai Jiang, Jun Chen, Pengcheng Zhang, Haoxi Wu, Shaofei Wang, Yingru Li, Jianping Jia & Junsheng Liao

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People’s Republic of China

    Lingwei Ma & Zhengjun Zhang

  3. Chongqing Key Laboratory of Catalysis and Functional Organic Molecules, College of Environment and Resources, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing, 400067, China

    Wen Yun

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  1. Jiaolai Jiang
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Correspondence to Zhengjun Zhang or Junsheng Liao.

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Jiang, J., Ma, L., Chen, J. et al. SERS detection and characterization of uranyl ion sorption on  silver nanorods wrapped with Al2O3 layers. Microchim Acta 184, 2775–2782 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2286-0

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