Colloidal dendritic nanostructures of gold and silver for SERS analysis of water pollutants

• Dendrimers mediate interparticle plasmonic coupling in gold:silver nanoparticles. Binary metal particles show better SERS performance than monometallic counterparts. Dendrimer colloidal nanoparticles for vestigial detection of pollutants. Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) using (Ag, Au) has been regarded as a powerful method detecting organic pollutants at levels. Although less investigated, the controlled synthesis binary nanostructures comprising two metals provides an alternative route to platforms with tuned surface plasmon resonances. Here, we demonstrate that use dendrimers allows formation distinct combinations Ag:Au are composed smaller nanocrystals. Our research highlights role dendrimer macromolecules multipurpose ligand generation such hybrid nanostructure, including reducing agent, effective long-term stabilizer and molecular glue interconnecting primary Noteworthy, dendrimer-based more sensitive compared corresponding blends or single-phase metals, revealed by pesticides analytes spiked water samples. We suggest high sensitivity is due occurring between nanoparticle aggregates, whose arrangement templated presence macromolecules.