Observation of the Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Spectrum of Uranyl Ion

We wish to report the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrum of uranyl ion, as a uranyl nitrate complex. The uranyl-ion group has a very characteristic linear structure. The oxygen-uranium bond in this group is known to be only slightly weaker than that of the carbon-oxygen in CO2. The vibrational frequency of the symmetric stretch for the uranylion is Raman active and is located around 800 Δcm-1 , varying with compounds, There has been a previous Raman and SERS study of uranyl superphthalocyanine (UO2SPc). That study dealt primarily with ligand interactions but did note a unique interaction of the UO2SPc molecule and silver. A weak SERS enhancement of less than 102 was noted; the weak enhancement was believed to be caused by damping effects of the superpthalocyanine molecule. To our knowledge, our work is the first to show a SERS enhancement for an inorganic species, UO2(NO3)2, on silver.