A Review on Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Overview

Journal Biosensors (Basel)

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2019 Apr 20

PMID 30999661

Citations 171

Authors

Roberto Pilot

Raffaella Signorini

Christian Durante

Laura Orian

Manjari Bhamidipati

Laura Fabris

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has become a powerful tool in chemical, material and life sciences, owing to its intrinsic features (i.e., fingerprint recognition capabilities and high sensitivity) and to the technological advancements that have lowered the cost of the instruments and improved their sensitivity and user-friendliness. We provide an overview of the most significant aspects of SERS. First, the phenomena at the basis of the SERS amplification are described. Then, the measurement of the enhancement and the key factors that determine it (the materials, the hot spots, and the analyte-surface distance) are discussed. A section is dedicated to the analysis of the relevant factors for the choice of the excitation wavelength in a SERS experiment. Several types of substrates and fabrication methods are illustrated, along with some examples of the coupling of SERS with separation and capturing techniques. Finally, a representative selection of applications in the biomedical field, with direct and indirect protocols, is provided. We intentionally avoided using a highly technical language and, whenever possible, intuitive explanations of the involved phenomena are provided, in order to make this review suitable to scientists with different degrees of specialization in this field.

Citing Articles

Emerging trends in SERS-based veterinary drug detection: multifunctional substrates and intelligent data approaches.

Yin T, Peng Y, Chao K, Li Y NPJ Sci Food. 2025; 9(1):31.

PMID: 40089516 DOI: 10.1038/s41538-025-00393-z.

Study of Brain Cells in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Raman Microspectroscopy and Scanning Ion-Conductance Microscopy.

Morozova K, Parshina E, Kazakova T, Yusipovich A, Slatinskaya O, Brazhe A Sovrem Tekhnologii Med. 2025; 17(1):27-37.

PMID: 40071072 PMC: 11892573. DOI: 10.17691/stm2025.17.1.03.

Magnetic-Plasmonic Core-Shell Nanoparticles: Properties, Synthesis and Applications for Cancer Detection and Treatment.

Rodriguez-Nieves A, Shah S, Taylor M, Alle M, Huang X Nanomaterials (Basel). 2025; 15(4).

PMID: 39997827 PMC: 11858323. DOI: 10.3390/nano15040264.

SERS-Active Micro/Nanomachines for Biosensing.

Li C, Zhang W, Zheng K, Guo J Biosensors (Basel). 2025; 15(2).

PMID: 39997017 PMC: 11853185. DOI: 10.3390/bios15020115.

ZIP-8/Ag-based size-selective SERS nanoplatform for ultrasensitive urea detection in milk samples: effects of analyte molecular dimensions on adsorption capacity and sensing performance.

Nga D, Mai Q, Nguyen L, Doan T, Thi Kim Oanh V, Ngoc Bach T RSC Adv. 2025; 15(7):4915-4925.

PMID: 39957818 PMC: 11823638. DOI: 10.1039/d4ra07695h.

References

Wiley B, Sun Y, Xia Y . Synthesis of silver nanostructures with controlled shapes and properties. Acc Chem Res. 2007; 40(10):1067-76. DOI: 10.1021/ar7000974. View

Kneipp J, Kneipp H, Kneipp K . SERS--a single-molecule and nanoscale tool for bioanalytics. Chem Soc Rev. 2008; 37(5):1052-60. DOI: 10.1039/b708459p. View

Fateixa S, Nogueira H, Trindade T . Hybrid nanostructures for SERS: materials development and chemical detection. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2015; 17(33):21046-71. DOI: 10.1039/c5cp01032b. View

Xu L, Zong C, Zheng X, Hu P, Feng J, Ren B . Label-free detection of native proteins by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy using iodide-modified nanoparticles. Anal Chem. 2014; 86(4):2238-45. DOI: 10.1021/ac403974n. View

McFarland A, Young M, Dieringer J, Van Duyne R . Wavelength-scanned surface-enhanced Raman excitation spectroscopy. J Phys Chem B. 2006; 109(22):11279-85. DOI: 10.1021/jp050508u. View

Schafer F, Buettner G . Redox environment of the cell as viewed through the redox state of the glutathione disulfide/glutathione couple. Free Radic Biol Med. 2001; 30(11):1191-212. DOI: 10.1016/s0891-5849(01)00480-4. View

Wang Z, Zong S, Wang Z, Wu L, Chen P, Yun B . Microfluidic chip based micro RNA detection through the combination of fluorescence and surface enhanced Raman scattering techniques. Nanotechnology. 2017; 28(10):105501. DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/aa527b. View

Walcarius A, Sibottier E, Etienne M, Ghanbaja J . Electrochemically assisted self-assembly of mesoporous silica thin films. Nat Mater. 2007; 6(8):602-8. DOI: 10.1038/nmat1951. View

Kearns H, Ali F, Bedics M, Shand N, Faulds K, Detty M . Sensitive SERS nanotags for use with a hand-held 1064 nm Raman spectrometer. R Soc Open Sci. 2017; 4(7):170422. PMC: 5541563. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170422. View

10.

Masango S, Hackler R, Large N, Henry A, McAnally M, Schatz G . High-Resolution Distance Dependence Study of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Enabled by Atomic Layer Deposition. Nano Lett. 2016; 16(7):4251-9. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01276. View

11.

Song C, Chen J, Zhao Y, Wang L . Gold-modified silver nanorod arrays for SERS-based immunoassays with improved sensitivity. J Mater Chem B. 2020; 2(43):7488-7494. DOI: 10.1039/c4tb01207k. View

12.

Bakker R, Permyakov D, Yu Y, Markovich D, Paniagua-Dominguez R, Gonzaga L . Magnetic and electric hotspots with silicon nanodimers. Nano Lett. 2015; 15(3):2137-42. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b00128. View

13.

Betz J, Yu W, Cheng Y, White I, Rubloff G . Simple SERS substrates: powerful, portable, and full of potential. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2013; 16(6):2224-39. DOI: 10.1039/c3cp53560f. View

14.

Wang Z, Zong S, Wu L, Zhu D, Cui Y . SERS-Activated Platforms for Immunoassay: Probes, Encoding Methods, and Applications. Chem Rev. 2017; 117(12):7910-7963. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00027. View

15.

Heaps D, Griffiths P . Off-line direct deposition gas chromatography/surface-enhanced Raman scattering and the ramifications for on-line measurements. Appl Spectrosc. 2005; 59(11):1305-9. DOI: 10.1366/000370205774783160. View

16.

Fang Y, Wei H, Hao F, Nordlander P, Xu H . Remote-excitation surface-enhanced Raman scattering using propagating Ag nanowire plasmons. Nano Lett. 2009; 9(5):2049-53. DOI: 10.1021/nl900321e. View

17.

Huang Y, Zhang M, Zhao L, Feng J, Wu D, Ren B . Activation of oxygen on gold and silver nanoparticles assisted by surface plasmon resonances. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2014; 53(9):2353-7. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201310097. View

18.

Vicario A, Sergo V, Toffoli G, Bonifacio A . Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of the anti-cancer drug irinotecan in presence of human serum albumin. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2015; 127:41-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2015.01.023. View

19.

Zhao L, Jensen L, Schatz G . Pyridine-Ag20 cluster: a model system for studying surface-enhanced Raman scattering. J Am Chem Soc. 2006; 128(9):2911-9. DOI: 10.1021/ja0556326. View

20.

Figueredo-Sobrinho F, Santos L, Leite D, Craveiro D, Santos S, Eguiluz K . Morphological dependence of silver electrodeposits investigated by changing the ionic liquid solvent and the deposition parameters. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2016; 18(10):7242-50. DOI: 10.1039/c5cp06665d. View