Novel synthesis method and microstructure evolution of Ti₃C₂(OH)₂/K₂Ti₈O₁₇ nanocomposites as an effective surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate

In this paper, we have developed a mild and facile approach using KOH solution as etchants to corrode Ti₃SiC₂ at room temperature, fabricating novel Ti₃C₂(OH)₂/K₂Ti₈O₁₇ nanocomposites with open network structures and abundant surface functional groups. The as-produced products obtain the excellent surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance in the determination of crystal violet (CV), rhodamine 6G (R6G) and methylene blue (MB) dye molecules. The enhancement factors of the three can be calculated to be 3.98 × 10⁵, 1.78 × 10⁵ and 5.27 × 10⁵, and the Raman signals can be detected at the concentrations as low as 10⁻⁶ M, 10⁻⁸ M and 10⁻⁶ M, respectively, suggesting the potential for reliable SERS substrates. In this regard, this work provides a new strategy for exploring and synthesizing MAX phase-derived nanomaterials as promising SERS substrates for high-sensitive molecular detection.