Gold nanoflowers with tunable sheet-like petals: facile synthesis, SERS performances and cell imaging

Abstract

). The growth of petals can be controlled and tuned by adjusting the amount of silver nitrate in the growth solution, and the reaction progress and evolution of the petals were monitored by time-course measurements via UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy and SEM to observe the growth mechanisms of nanoparticles. Besides, their optical properties, especially SERS performances, were also studied. These SERS-active gold nanoparticles were further utilized in the design of bright SERS tags for selectively in vitro imaging cancer cells. The results indicate that these Au NFs can be used as good SERS substrates or to design sensitive SERS sensors.