Electrochemical synthesis and functionality evaluation of silver nanostructured layers

The functionality of silver nanostructures prepared by means of electrochemical deposition of silver into the pores of anodic alumina oxide (AAO) template was examined in correlation to electrodeposition conditions. The optical activity as well as the chemical separation ability of prepared nanostructured films was studied. The surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) performance was evaluated by the signals of rhodamine 6G, 4‐aminothiophenol and 2,7‐dichlorfluorescein. Nanostructured silver substrates showed moderate surface enhancement for Raman scattering from adsorbed molecules with the magnitude of about 26.9. Moreover, a novel separation/pre‐concentration function of the silver nanowire structures was indicated. The identification and position detection of the model compounds were realised with SERS. The separation of single chemical components from the two‐component mixture over the examined silver nanostructured films was sufficiently approved. The results obtained demonstrated the potential of the prepared substrate as a SERS detection and separation probe for further implementation to any instrumentation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.