Method for modifiying a surface of a metallic substrate material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10718063-B2
Application number	US-201816022770-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2018
Priority date	Jun 29, 2018
Publication date	Jul 21, 2020
Grant date	Jul 21, 2020

Abstract

A method for chemically modifying a surface of a metallic substrate material being made of a first metallic material includes the steps of a) bonding an alloy material made of the first metallic material and a second metallic material onto the substrate material; and b) etching away at least some of the first metallic material from the bonded substrate material to obtain a modified substrate material, wherein the modified substrate material has an increased specific surface area. A substrate for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) includes a modified substrate material.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for chemically modifying a surface of a metallic substrate material being made of a first metallic material comprising the steps of:
a) bonding, by way of electrodeposition in an electrochemical cell containing an acidic electrolyte solution, a second metallic material onto the substrate material so as to form an alloy material made of the first metallic material and the second metallic material onto the substrate material, wherein the first metallic material is less chemically reactive than the second metallic material, wherein the first metallic material comprises at least one of gold, silver, and copper, and wherein the second metallic material comprises at least one of silver, copper, and platinum; and
b) etching away, by way of electrochemical de-alloying in the electrochemical cell containing the acidic electrolyte solution, at least some of the first metallic material from the bonded substrate material to obtain a modified substrate material, wherein the modified substrate material has an increased specific surface area and is a substrate for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modified substrate material has a higher specific surface area than the substrate material.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrodeposition of the alloy material onto the metallic substrate material is carried out by manipulating at least one of a voltage or a current density applied to the electrochemical cell.

4. The method of claim 1 , the electrochemical de-alloying of at least some of the first metallic material is carried out by manipulating at least a voltage or a current density applied to the electrochemical cell.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acidic electrolyte solution comprising an ion of the second metallic material.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the acidic electrolyte solution further includes a reagent for passivating the second metallic material.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the reagent comprises a sulfur-containing compound.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the sulfur-containing compound is thiourea.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acidic electrolyte solution comprises HNO 3 , H 2 SO 4 or chloroauric acid.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alloy material is in a form of micro-isles.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein step b) further including the step of detaching at least some of the second metallic material from the bonded substrate material as the first metallic material is etched away.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the second metallic material detached from the bonded substrate is in a form of particles.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the detached second metallic material includes nano-pores.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modified substrate material includes a nanostructured surface with nano-pores.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein steps a) and b) are carried out for 1 to 60 seconds.

16. The method of claim 3 , wherein the electrodeposition is carried out by applying at least one of a voltage ranged from about −0.45V to −0.72V or a current density ranged from −0.1 to −10 mA/cm 2 .

17. The method of claim 4 , wherein the electrochemical de-alloying is carried out by applying at least one of a voltage ranged from about 0.5V to 0.8V or a current density ranged from 0.1 to 10 mA/cm 2 .

18. The method of claim 1 , further including the step of:
repeating steps a) and b).

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein steps a) and b) are repeated for 20 to 200 times.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metallic substrate material is in a form of a wire, a foil, a foam or a mesh.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first metallic material is less electrochemically reactive than the second metallic material.

Assignees

• Univ City Hong Kong

Inventors

• Lu Jian
• Li Yang Yang
• Zhan Yawen

Classifications

• C25D7/00

  Electroplating characterised by the article coated · CPC title

• C25D5/18

  Electroplating using modulated, pulsed or reversing current · CPC title

• C25D7/0614

  Strips or foils · CPC title

• C25D3/56

  of alloys · CPC title

• C25D3/64

  containing more than 50% by weight of silver · CPC title