Hexagonal Gold Nanostructures and Applications to Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Student: Elizabeth Boggio

Faculty Mentor: Bogdan Negru

Chemistry

College of Science, Technology, and Business

The properties and ultimate functionality of nanostructures are highly dependent on their shape and size. Using hexagonal gold nanoparticles, we intend to create tiled or stacked structures, and investigate their potential applications in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). To do this, samples will be aggregated using trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (BPE) and other aggregating agents at variable concentrations. The resulting aggregated nanostructures will be analyzed via Raman spectroscopy to determine the effects of the shape and size of nanostructures on the surface enhancement effect inherent to rough gold metal surfaces.