Nanosupernova: a new anisotropic nanostructure for SERS

Gold and/or silver nanostars are interesting anisotropic nanoparticles that have been used in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). In particular SERS nanotags consisting of gold nanostars and Raman reporter molecules have been widely utilised in biosensing and bioimaging. To improve the SERS activity of gold/silver nanostars, this paper details the development of a simple synthesis method that results in the formation of quasi-spherical SERS nanotags and larger highly anisotropic nanoparticles with a novel structure, which we have designated nanosupernova. The resulting SERS nanotags and nanosupernova contain gold/silver nanostars at their core, a self-assembled monolayer of Raman reporter molecules, and a final silver coating. The silver coating is the essential step responsible for the formation of the two types of particles, with incubation time, and type of Raman reporter molecule, the defining factor as to which forms. We discovered that the Raman reporter molecule, 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB), plays a crucial role in controlling the morphology of nanosupernova. We believe the larger highly anisotropic nanoparticles will open new applications in material sciences and in optical and electronic devices in the future.