Towards high quality triangular silver nanoprisms: improved synthesis, six-tip based hot spots and ultra-high local...

The great application potential of triangular silver nanoprisms (TSNPRs, also referred to as triangular silver nanoplates) is hampered by the lack of methods to produce well-defined tips with high monodispersity, with easily removable ligands. In this work, a simple one-step plasmon-mediated method was developed to prepare monodisperse high-quality TSNPRs. In this approach, the sole surface capping agent was the easily removable trisodium citrate. Differing from common strategies using complex polymers, OH(-) ions were used to improve the monodispersity of silver seeds, as well as to control the growth process through inhibiting the oxidation of silver nanoparticles. Using these monodisperse high-quality TSNPRs as building blocks, self-assembled TSNPRs consisting of six-tip based "hot spots" were realized for the first time as demonstrated in a high enhancement (∼10(7)) of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). From the plasmon band shift versus the refractive index, ultra-high local surface plasmon resonance sensitivity (413 nm RIU(-1) or 1.24 eV RIU(-1), figure of merit (FOM) = 4.59) was reached at ∼630 nm, making these materials promising for chemical/biological sensing applications.