Synthesis of SiO2@Ag nanocomposite for enhancing photoluminescence and Raman characterizations

Abstract

Abstract SiO2@Ag nanocomposite (NC) has been synthesized by the chemical reduction and Stӧber method for enhancement photoluminescence (PL) and Raman characteristics of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) and Malachite green (MG) dyes. As-synthesized SiO2@Ag nanocomposite indicated SiO2 nanosphere (NS) and Ag nanoparticle (NP) morphologies. The SiO2@Ag nanocomposite was high quality with a well-defined crystallite phase with average sizes of 24 nm and 132 nm for Ag NP and SiO2 NC, respectively. By using SiO2@Ag NC, the PL intensity of the R6G (at 59.17 ppm) was increased approximately 133 times. The surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of the MG (at 1.0 ppm) with SiO2@Ag NC as substrate, clearly observed vibrational modes in MG dye at 798, 916, 1172, 1394, and 1616 cm− 1. As a result, the SERS enhancement factor (EFSERS) at 1172 cm− 1 obtained 6.3x106. This pioneering study points to the potential of SiO2@Ag nanocomposite as a promising material for effective photoluminescence and Raman characteristics at low-concentration dyes.