| Abstract: | Graphene has become an ideal substrate for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to study the chemical enhancement mechanism. In comparison with mechanically exfoliated graphene, graphene oxide (GO) has been found to be a better substrate due to its highly negatively charged oxygen functional groups. In this work, the pH‐dependent SERS effect of aromatic molecules on GO are investigated. The results demonstrate that the Raman enhancement of dyes deposited on GO performs differently over a wide range of pH values (2 to 10). Adsorption experiments show that the pH‐dependent SERS effect is closely related to the adsorption of aromatic molecules on GO, which is dominated by the electrostatic interaction. Thus, the influence of pH in GO‐mediated SERS should be carefully considered, especially in its biomedical application. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
