Effect of concentration of methanol for the control of particle size and size-dependent SERS studies

In this paper the effect of concentration of cosolvent (methanol) for the formulation of particles size has been discussed briefly. The binary solvent system has been used which is prepared by simple mixing of two solvents. The morphology of the particles was controlled by varying the amount of cosolvent, keeping the concentration of the stabilizer and reducing agent constant. The polarity of the solvent, transport of the Au(III) ions, and coordinating ability of the solvent play vital roles for nucleus formation and the growth process, which subsequently form different size particles. The particles formed in methanol at lower composition are angular. At higher concentrations of methanol they are spherical. In all the cases the particle size increases as the concentration of the cosolvent decreases. In the methanol system, particles form multiple twined structures and the twining of the particles increase with the decrease of methanol content. The particles have been characterized by XRD analysis, UV-visible spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) studies. The variable size of the particles, obtained in a water methanol system, was employed for SERS measurement. A Raman probe, Rhodamine 6G (Rh 6G), has been found to be suited for the surface modification of the gold particles and it has also been demonstrated that the larger particles show better SERS signal than the corresponding smaller ones.