Au Nanoparticles Deposited on Magnetic Carbon Nanofibers as the Ultrahigh Sensitive Substrate for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering: Detections of Rhodamine 6G and Aromatic Amino Acids

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a unique spectroscopy that can offer high-sensitive detection for many molecules. Herein, the Au particles deposited on carbon nanofiber-encapsulated magnetic Ni nanoparticles (NPs) (Ni@CNFs@Au) have been successfully synthesized for SERS measurements. The Ni@CNFs@Au substrates have the advantages of a high SERS sensitivity and good magnetic response. The Ni@CNFs could be directly obtained from CO2 hydrogenation on a Ni catalyst, which has been characterized as having rich carboxylic acid groups, graphitic structures, and a high surface area. The Ni@CNFs surface could effectively increase the density of hotspots during Au NP aggregation and influence the morphology of the Au nanostructures. The spherical shape, oval shape, and coral-like Au nanostructures were prepared on Ni@CNFs with various Au concentrations. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, zeta potential, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measure...