Abstract:
To address the complex procedures and reliance on chemical reductants in conventional noble metal nanomaterial synthesis, a continuous-flow synthesis strategy was proposed by coupling a microchannel reactor with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma. HAuCl
4 was reduced by plasma within the microchannel to generate AuNPs, and combined with Al
2O
3 to form Au@Al
2O
3 nanoparticles. The effects of HAuCl
4 concentration, residence time, and plasma power on the products and their surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance were systematically investigated. The results showed that optimal synthesis conditions were: HAuCl
4 concentration of 0.5 mmol·L
−1, residence time of 6 seconds, and plasma power of 5.5 W. The SERS substrates constructed using Au@Al
2O
3 nanoparticles exhibited high sensitivity and stability in detecting various analytes. In particular, the detection limit for rhodamine B reached as low as 10
−12 mol·L
−1, with quantitative detection achievable over the range of 10
−4 to 10
−12 mol·L
−1. These findings provide guidance for the efficient and controllable synthesis of functional nanomaterials.