Chelating agents EFFECTS in nanoengineered silver structures over TiO2 nanotubes ON Ti wires and their Rhodamine B detection activity

ABSTRACT The influence of chelanting agents in nanoengineered silver structures was investigated and, subsequently, the study aimed to access the viability of the electrodeposition process of silver over anodized titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNT) on titanium wires as SERS substrate to detect Rhodamine B (RhB). Firstly, a titania layer composed of nanotubular structures were synthesized from Ti wires, which was annealed to obtain the anatase crystalline phase. These samples were then submitted to a silver electrodeposition, employing diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) and disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Na2EDTA) as chelanting agents. The results confirmed the successful synthesis of silver dendrites by using DTPA enriched electrolytes, while by Na2EDTA the silver structures present a nanoparticulate shape (AgNP). Moreover, in the absence of chelating agents, the samples do not show any evidence of silver structures formation. Overall, for the detection test with Rhodamine B, the sample containing Na2EDTA showed the most remarkable signal. These characteristics may be related to the nanoparticulate structure and the dendrites thickness layer over titanium dioxide nanotubes. The synthesized AgNP/TNT over wires may be considered potential sensors to improve the detection of RhB.