Formation
of intended nano- and microstructures with regular building
blocks has attracted much attention because of their potential applications
in the fields of optics, electronics, and catalysis. Herein, we report
a novel strategy to spontaneously grow three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical
cabbagelike microparticles (CLMPs) constructed by individual Au nanoplates.
By reducing gold precursor to gold atoms, <i>N</i>-(3-amidino)-aniline
(NAAN) itself was oxidized to form poly(<i>N</i>-(3-amidino)-aniline)
(PNAAN), which specifically binds on Au(111) facet as a capping agent
and which leads to the formation of gold nanoplates. Because of the
incomplete coverage of Au(111) facet, new gold nanoplate growth sites
were spontaneously generated from the crystal plane of existing Au
nanoplates for the growth of other nanoplates. This process continued
until the nanoplate density reached its maximum range, eventually
resulting in CLMPs with well-controlled structures. This opens a new
avenue to utilize the imperfection during nanoparticle (NP) growth
for the construction of microstructures. The individual CLMP shows
excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance with
high enhancement factor (EF) and good reproducibility as it integrates
the SERS enhancement effects of individual Au nanoplate and the nanogaps
formed by the uniform and hierarchical structures