Fabrication of Au/SnO₂ Nanocomposites Based on 3D Structures of Butterfly Wing Scales and Research on Its SERS Effects

Scales from fore wings of Papilio paris was used as templates, by ringing the original fore wings in the precursor and treatment by calcinations, SnO2 (rutile) which inherited the 3D quasi-periodic structures of original wing scale was fabricated. After that, Au nanoparticles were incorporated in the system of as-prepared SnO2 to form the Au/SnO2 nanocomposites. XRD, SEM and TEM were carried out to investigate the morphologies, structures and elemental composition. For measuring Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) effects of the Au/SnO2 substrate, R6G was used as analyte molecules. By analyzing morphologies of this nanocomposites and UV-Vis DRS spectra of different substrates, mechanisms of SERS effects for this Au/SnO2 nanocomposites substrate were analyzed. The three-dimensional nanostructures of the substrate provide large quantities of Raman 'hot spots', meanwhile, the SnO2 and Au make synergetic contribution to the enhancement effects. The satisfying SERS properties combined