SERS-Active Cu Nanoparticles on Carbon Nitride Support Fabricated Using Pulsed Laser Ablation

We report a single-step route to co-deposit Cu nanoparticles with a graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) support using nanosecond Ce:Nd:YAG pulsed laser ablation from a Cu metal target coated using acetonitrile (CH₃CN). The resulting Cu/gCN hybrids showed strong optical absorption in the visible to near-IR range and exhibited surface-enhanced Raman or resonance Raman scattering (SERS or SERRS) enhancement for crystal violet (CV), methylene blue (MB), and rhodamine 6G (R6G) used as probe analyte molecules adsorbed on the surface. We have characterized the Cu nanoparticles and the nature of the gCN support materials using a range of spectroscopic, structural, and compositional analysis techniques.