Au - Graphene Oxide - Anodic Aluminium Oxide Nanostructured Substrates for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy-based Molecular Sensing

We present SERS enhancement studies in a biocompatible and chemically stable plasmonic composite based on gold nanoparticles decorated graphene oxides deposited over multiscale anodized- aluminium-oxide nanostructures. The underlying nanostructure in the fabricated sample increases the optical density of states in graphene oxides through maximum interaction volume for an electromagnetic wave from local-ized hotspots, which is important for the Raman signal enhancement. All samples are prepared through cost-effective two-step anodization techniques followed by wet-etching and drop casting. It is observed that GO/Au and rGO/Au composite have enhanced the absorption in these nanostructures to more than 90% due to strong localization of electromagnetic field through enhanced plasmonic effect. Surface mor-phology of GO, GO/Au, rGO, rGO/Au and composite nanostructures are done through FESEM and im-age J analysis. Raman characterization studies present signal enhancement up to 29-folds in the fabricated SERS sub...