Widely tunable surface plasmon resonance and uniquely superior SERS performance of Au nanotube network films.

Three-dimensional Au network films with flexibility and transferability were fabricated based on sputtering deposition onto electrospun nanofibers as a template. The films are constructed by the long Au nanotubes that are cross-linked with each other and have dense nanoparticles on the tube wall surface. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks for the films are tunable in a wide range from visible to near-infrared region by tuning the inner diameter and/or wall thickness of the nanotubes. Such structured film exhibits significant surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity with good signal uniformity and stability and possesses the great potential in in-situ detecting trace organic pollutants on solid surface by simple transferring. This study provides a Au film with unique structure and widely tunable SPR for in-situ SERS sensing and other needs.