Hollow and nanoporous Ag sub-microcubes as SERS substrates

In this work, Ag(NH3)2NO3 microcubes are obtained by directly evaporating the silver ammonia complex solution. In Na3Cit solution, each Ag(NH3)2NO3 microcube can crumble into lots of Ag3Cit sub-microcubes with uniform size, which serve as sacrificial templates to yield Ag sub-microcages. The as-obtained Ag cages possess ultra-high surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensitivity towards R6G and thiram.