New application of photocatalytic TiO2 nanoparticles on the improved surface-enhanced Raman scattering

We report here the first simultaneous irradiation of UV light on samples in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements. A roughen gold substrate with TiO2 nanoparticles was prepared by using electrochemical oxidation–reduction cycles (ORC) in 0.1 M HCl aqueous solution containing 1 mM anatase TiO2 nanoparticles. It is encouraging to find that the SERS spectrum, obtaining with the simultaneous irradiation of 4-W UV light on the sample, of polypyrrole (PPy) electrodeposited on the TiO2 nanoparticles-containing roughened gold substrate exhibits an 8-fold higher intensity compared to that without the contribution from the simultaneous irradiation of UV light.