Fabrication and surface-enhanced Raman scattering properties of thin-film assemblies of classified silver nanoparticles

Abstract

Abstract The classification of citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticles was performed by a combination of centrifugation and redispersion. Repeated classification processes led to a convergence of similarly sized nanoparticles, which in turn decreased their size deviations. This tendency corresponds to the change in the zeta potentials of the silver nanoparticles. Densely packed sphere-shaped silver nanoparticle thin-film assemblies were fabricated by a liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation process using appropriately classified silver nanoparticles. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering efficiencies of these thin-film assemblies of silver nanoparticles were varied and could be optimized by the number of classification processes.