Charge-Transfer and SERS Coupling on TiO2

We report the SERS enhancements of Raman forbidden surface modes of TiO2 in different sized TiO2 crystals. This current study utilizes the relationship between the vibronic coupling and the degree of charge-transfer to explain the differences of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) enhancements. Our study shows a direct correlation between the degree of charge-transfer and vibronic coupling. This relationship suggests that charge-transfer between the N-719 dye and TiO2 due to vibronic coupling plays a fundamental role in SERS enhancements. Furthermore, this study shows a strong dependence of the enhancements of the N-719 dye molecular modes to that of the surface modes. This indicates that the mechanism that governs the enhancements of the surface modes in TiO2 crystals most likely also dictates the enhancements of the N-719 dyes.