Gap-enhanced gold nanodumbbells with single-particle surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensitivity

Gap-enhanced Raman tags (GERTs) have been widely used for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging due to their excellent SERS performances. Here, we reported a synthetic strategy for novel gap-enhanced dumbbell-like nanoparticles with anisotropic shell coatings. Controlled shell growth at the tips of gold nanorods was achieved by using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a capping agent. A mechanism related to the shape-directing effects of CTAB was proposed to explain the findings. Optimized gap-enhanced gold dumbbells exhibited highly enhanced SERS responses compared to rod cores, with an enhancement ratio of 101.5. We further demonstrated that gap-enhanced AuNDs exhibited single-particle SERS sensitivity with an acquisition time as fast as 0.1 s per spectrum, showing great potential for high-speed SERS imaging.