Experimental and theoretical investigation of spontaneous and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy of pure and boron-doped carbon nanotubes

AbstractIn this paper, due to the importance and abundant applications of carbon nanotubes doped with boron (CNT/B۲O۳) in various industries with changes in the electrical, mechanical and chemical properties, mode identification and intensity of the Raman spectra of pure and boron oxide molecule-doped spectra have been performed. The main task in this paper is to monitor the alteration of the relevant vibrational mode intensities of the pure and B-doped samples. In experimental approach, by utilizing a simple method we synthesized CNT doped with B۲O۳ using laser ablation in liquid environment technique. The silver nanoparticles were made by the Lee–Meisel method, and then the spontaneous and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of pure and B-doped carbon nanotubes were collected. In simulation approach, using the Gauss View and Gaussian software [basis set ۶-۳۱G, computational method DFT (B۳LYP)], the spontaneous and SERS spectroscopy of pure and B-doped carbon nanotubes was calculated. Due to the presence of silver nanoparticles in the vicinity of carbon nanotube and boron element, SERS intensity to spontaneous Raman (NR) intensity ratio ISERS/INRdocumentclass[۱۲pt]{minimal} usepackage{amsmath} usepackage{wasysym} usepackage{amsfonts} usepackage{amssymb} usepackage{amsbsy} usepackage{mathrsfs} usepackage{upgreek} setlength{oddsidemargin}{-۶۹pt} egin{document}left( {{ aise۰.۷exhbox{{I_{ ext{SERS}} }} !mathord{left/ {vphantom {{I_{ ext{SERS}} } {I_{ ext{NR}} }}} ight.kern-۰pt} !lower۰.۷exhbox{{I_{ ext{NR}} }}}} ight)end{document} increases in the D, G and boron oxide modes of up to ۱۲-fold were observed. A good agreement is found between the computational and the experimental SERS results for the vibrational spectra of the synthesized composite materials.

Keywords:

Raman Spectroscopy , Carbon nanotubes , Boron , Doping , SERS