| dc.description | Thin metal films have attracted much interest because they provide a way to produce surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in the Kretschmann configuration. This technique is a very sensitive for determining small changes at the interface between a metallic layer and
a dielectric medium, and the metals generally used are silver and gold once their surface plasmon resonances are located in the visible range. Thin films of gold, due their stability and diversity applications, have been extensively studied by electrochemistry, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and techniques of Microscopic such as AFM and
STM. The Raman technique has been used to the analysis of organics compounds in determined system. However, in very low concentration levels is inefficient due to weak signal or interference from noise. A developed method to markedly increase the signal of a species presented at many levels is the SERS. One of the major considerations for the formation of a SERS-active surface is surface roughness, and this has been realized by various ways. In the present work, we analyzed the efects of various oxidation-reduction cycles (ORCs) on the surface of the thin films of gold using the techniques of cyclic voltammetry, microscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy and SPR, which will be used to evaluate
the efficiency of electrochemically modified substrates as SERS and SPR active. Initially,
the film was cycling in a solution of H2SO4 to remove impurities from the surface. After
this procedure, the 50 nm and 100 nm thick gold films, deposited on a glass substrate,
were subjected to a series of ORCs in a solution of H2SO4 containing 0,005 M KCl
electrolyte. As the number of ORCs is increased, the roughness of the film increased. We used techniques of microscopy, Spectroscopy UV-Vis, Resonance Plasmon Surface and Cyclic Voltammetry to characterize the surface of the film as a function of roughness. A “home − made” SPR system based on the configuration of Kretschmann was utilized for analyzed the changes provoked in surface film before and after the electrochemically
modified. The medium size of the gold islands deposited was analyzed for Atomic Force
Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM). This same metallic film,
after passing for oxidation processes and reduction, was used to obtain a spectrum SER
using an organic molecule the 2-thiouracil adsorbed on the surface of the film. The results observed for AFM, STM and cyclic voltammetry shows that surfaces electrochemically modified increase the roughness, and that the changes modified o depth of the signal SPR. These change provoked electrochemistry after various ORC improve significantly the Raman sign of molecules adsorbed on the surfaces of the metallic films. Finally, we conducted an evaluation of the roughness factor obtained through the techniques of AFM, STM and cyclic voltammetry. _______________________________________________________________________________________ RESUMO: Filmes finos metalicos tem despertado muito interesse devido a possibildade de produzir Ressonancia de Plasmons de Superfıcie (SPR) utilizando uma configuracao de Kretschmann. Esta tecnica e muito sensıvel na determinacao de pequenas mudancas na interface entre uma camada metalica e um meio dieletrico, e os metais usados geralmente
sao prata e ouro, uma vez que a ressonancia de plasmon da superfıcie desses metais
esta localizada na regiao do visıvel. Esses filmes, devido a sua estabilidade e diversidade de aplicacoes, tem sido extensivamente estudados por tecnicas eletroquımicas, espectroscopia Raman intenficada por superfıcie (SERS) e por tecnicas de microscopia tais como o AFM e STM. A Espectroscopia Raman tem sido utilizada para a analise de compostos
organicos em determinados sistemas. No entanto, em sistemas que possuem concentracoes muito baixas, o sinal Raman e extremamente fraco e ineficiente, ou sofre interferencias de ruıdos. Um dos metodos desenvolvidos para aumentar significativamente o sinal de uma especie adsorvida sobre uma superfıcie metalica em varios nıveis e o SERS. Uma das consideracoes importantes para a formacao de um substrato SERS ativo e a rugosidade da superfıcie, e a obtencao dessas superfıcies tem sido realizado de diversas maneiras. No presente trabalho, analisamos o efeito de diferentes ciclos de oxidacao-reducao (ORCs) sobre a superfıcie de filmes finos de ouro, utilizando as tecnicas de voltametria cıclica, microscopias, espectroscopia UV-Vis e SPR, que serao utilizadas para avaliar a eficiencia dos substratos modificados eletroquimicamente como SERS e SPR ativos. Inicialmente, o filme e ciclado em uma solucao de H2SO4 para remover as impurezas da superfıcie. Apos este procedimento, os filmes com espessuras de 50 e 100 nm, depositados sobre um substrato de vidro, foram submetidos a uma serie de ORCs em uma solucao de H2SO4. | |
