Chugh, DipankarJagadish, ChennupatiTan, Hark Hoe2020-07-012365-709Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/205678Application of atomically thin layers of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) for passivating gold and silver nanoparticles is investigated and its potential use is demonstrated through surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Silver nanoparticles readily oxidize in air, resulting in a significant decrease in its SERS activity. hBN is a novel 2D material, well-known for its thermal and chemical stability. In this study, wafer-scale hBN is grown using metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and centimeter-sized hBN layers are transferred on to silver nanoparticles. hBN acts as an impermeable barrier and protects silver nanoparticles from oxidation, even at elevated tempera-tures and help retain its SERS activity. Thermal stability of hBN coated Ag nanoparticles is studied in detail. Furthermore, wafer-scale hBN layers grown using MOVPE are especially attractive, compared to mechanically exfoli-ated, micrometer sized flakes from bulk crystals, as it can be easily scaled-up, shown here through design and fabrication of a SERS chip, conducive for droplet-based analysis. Overall, large-area hBN layers are well suited for practical applications and can help improve the shelf-life and reusability of commercially available SERS substrates.The Australian Research Council is acknowledged for financial support.application/pdfen-AU© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim201910.1002/admt.2019002202020-01-27