For dilute GNR sols, the GNR assemblies demonstrated an island structure after deposition on a silicon wafer and drying in air (see,

for example, Additional file 1: Figure S2). It should be emphasized that the plasmonic properties of single GNRs and GNR assemblies Selleckchem AZD8931 differ substantially because of the strong electromagnetic coupling between neighboring particles [62] (Additional file 1: Figure S3). It follows from Additional file 1: Figure S3 that the interaction of particles in dense films leads to the broadening and red shifting of the principal longitudinal dipole resonance and reduction of its magnitude. What is more, there emerge minor resonances due to the higher (nondipole) modes of plasmonic excitations. selleck screening library The abovementioned sudden change in the plasmon spectra of films formed from nanorods is a negative factor from the standpoint of SERS applications. Note for comparison that the more complex techniques of application of metal

films over 2-D colloidal silica or polystyrene crystals provide for a controllable plasmonic shift towards the near-IR region without any serious impairment of the spectral quality. To obtain GNR-OPC substrates, we prepared nanorod sols with a GNR powder concentration of 12 mg/mL in water. This concentration approximately corresponded to the maximum enhancement of the SERS spectra of rhodamine 6G and 4-aminthiophenol (see Additional file 1: Figure S4). During the course of deposition, the GNRs gradually DAPT price filled up the interstitial space. While the amount of the deposited particles was small, they completely entered into pores, with only solitary particles remaining on the surface (Figure 3a). Thereafter, islands of gold nanorods formed on the film surface that overlapped at the points of contact between silica spheres (Figure 3b). Finally, when the amount of the deposited GNRs became large enough, we observed some kind of plain GNR film without any fingerprints of silica spheres (Figure 3c).

Note that we purposefully selected in Figure 3 an irregular area of silica spheres with large pores in order to illustrate the process of the pores being filled up with gold nanorods. Additional information is presented in Figure 4 for an area having a colloidal crystal structure. Figure 3 SEM images of mesoporous silica films differing in GNR deposition density. (a) Low. (b) Medium. (c) High. Note that the selleck chemical densely packed GNR layer (right-hand image) is similar to the fractal-like GNR assembly on a silicon wafer (Additional file 1: Figure S2b). The white bars are 100 nm long. Figure 4 SEM images of a GNR-OPC substrate at a low (left) and a high (right) resolution. The light regions near silica spheres (left image) correspond to the deposited GNRs that are clearly seen in the enlarged image (right).