Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Based Sensors and Biosensors

Dear Colleagues,

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering/spectroscopy (SERS) has attracted increasing interest in biotechnological applications, especially concerning those related to biorecognition and bioimaging. Indeed, thanks to a multidisciplinary approach that includes physics, chemistry, materials science, biomedicine, and electronics, this technique is more and more applied for the identification and detection of chemicals and biomolecules, or in biomedical imaging (e.g., guided surgery). Optical biosensing platforms based on SERS offer great advantages over conventional laboratory analytical methods because they allow fast and direct real-time and often label-free detection of many biological molecules, showing high specificity and sensitivity. In such a framework, research on advanced plasmonic sensors and biosensors has been mainly directed towards the recognition of biomarkers at very low concentrations, as well as emerging pollutants and food-contaminants, making SERS a technique of growing relevance for medical, biotechnological, and environmental applications.

In the last few decades, several nanomaterials, as well as several sensing strategies, have been developed to exploit the ultra-high sensitivity of plasmonic nanostructures, typically composed of noble metals (Au, Ag, Pt, etc.) in the form of roughened surfaces, nanoparticle aggregates, or arrayed elements, combined with the specific molecular recognition of customized receptors/probes immobilized on their surface. Once integrated into lab-on-a-chip, these biofunctional SERS-active nanostructures, result in small-size and cost-effective devices exploitable for point-of-care analysis.

This Special Issue will introduce recent progress in the field of SERS-based biosensing platforms and SERS methods for biodetection, including fabrication of novel nanostructures and devices, development of innovative biorecognition systems, and their applications in bioanalysis.

Dr. Alessandro Chiadò
Dr. Chiara Novara
Guest Editors

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