• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 2013

In order to monitor in situ electrochemical reaction we prepared the gold microshells on silica microspheres of $2{\mu}m$ in diameter which were able to not only work as electrodes but also surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrates. Previously reported gold microshell using polystyrene as core material have a few serious problems, mostly coming from solubility in organic solvent, nonuniform distribution in size and toxicity of the polystyrene. Here we prepared silica core-gold microshell to obtain a strong SERS active platform benefitting from the physicochemical stability, uniformity and non-toxicity of silica. Varying the concentration of 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES), the surfaces of silica beads were modified and the optimal condition was determined to be 1% APTES that made the SERS activity of gold microshell strongest. The gold microshells as made were characterized by homemade Micro-Raman system spectrometer, Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope.