Self-sustainable and recyclable ternary Au@CuO-Ag nanocomposites: application in ultrasensitive SERS detection and highly efficient photocatalysis of organic dyes under visible light.

Ternary noble metal-semiconductor nanocomposites (NCs) with core-shell-satellite nanostructures have received widespread attention due to their outstanding performance in detecting pollutants through surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and photodegradation of organic pollutants. In this work, ternary Au@CuO-Ag NCs were designed and prepared by a galvanic replacement method. The effect of different amounts of Ag nanocrystals adsorbed on the surfaces of Au@CuO on the SERS activity was investigated based on the SERS detection of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) reporter molecules. Based on electromagnetic field simulations and photoluminescence (PL) results, a possible SERS enhancement mechanism was proposed and discussed. Moreover, Au@CuO-Ag NCs served as SERS substrates, and highly sensitive SERS detection of malachite green (MG) with a detection limit as low as 10 M was achieved. In addition, Au@CuO-Ag NCs were recycled due to their superior self-cleaning ability and could catalyze the degradation of MG driven by visible light. This work demonstrates a wide range of possibilities for the integration of recyclable SERS detection and photodegradation of organic dyes and promotes the development of green testing techniques.