Design of Nanomaterials for High-Performance SERS Analysis
A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanophotonics Materials and Devices".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 45
Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is widely regarded as a powerful and highly sensitive analytical technique for chemical and biological sensing. Though significant progress has been made in recent decades in its application across environmental monitoring, food safety, and medical diagnostics, achieving ultra-high sensitivity, uniform reproducibility, and long-term stability in complex real-world samples still requires improvement in SERS substrate performance.
Recently, the emerging use of rationally designed nanostructures by newly developed nanotechnology provides opportunities to significantly enhance SERS efficiency. The analytical performance of SERS is fundamentally dependent on the physicochemical properties of the supporting nanomaterials. By precisely controlling the size, shape, composition, and assembly of nanostructures, researchers can finely tune localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) to create dense electromagnetic “hot spots,” as well as optimize charge transfer processes for chemical enhancement.
Furthermore, numerous kinds of novel nanomaterial platforms—such as anisotropic noble metal nanoparticles, 2D materials (e.g., graphene, MXenes), semiconductor nanomaterials, and organic-inorganic hybrids—have been developed. The combination of these advanced nanomaterials and target-specific surface functionalization leads to a much-improved performance of SERS devices. One reason for this is that rationally designed nanostructures enable enhanced analyte enrichment and multiplexing capabilities. Additionally, the development of flexible, porous, or three-dimensional nanomaterial assemblies can lead to enhanced practical applicability in point-of-care testing and in situ analysis.
This Special Issue will present comprehensive research outlining progress on the design, synthesis, and application of nanomaterials to improve the performance of SERS analysis. This includes the utilization of novel plasmonic nanostructures to maximize electromagnetic enhancement, the exploration of new material compositions to boost chemical enhancement, and the construction of practical device structures (e.g., microfluidic-SERS or flexible substrates) to improve analytical reliability. We invite authors to contribute original research articles and review articles covering the current progress on nanomaterial-based SERS. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Rational design and synthesis of novel plasmonic nanoparticles (Au, Ag, Cu, etc.) and their alloys for SERS.
- 2D materials, semiconductors, and dielectric nanomaterials for high-performance SERS applications.
- Hybrid and composite nanomaterials (e.g., MOF/COF-plasmonic nanoparticle hybrids) for enhanced analyte capture and SERS detection.
- Self-assembly, nanopatterning, and 3D architectures of SERS substrates with high uniformity and reproducibility.
- Flexible, wearable, or transparent nanomaterial-based SERS substrates for point-of-care and in situ diagnostics.
- Application of nanomaterial-based SERS in environmental monitoring, food safety, and biomedical sensing.
- Microfluidic devices integrated with nanostructured SERS substrates.
- Theoretical modeling and simulation of structure–property relationships and enhancement mechanisms in novel SERS nanomaterials.
Dr. Fan-Li Zhang
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- surface-enhanced Raman scattering
- plasmonic nanomaterials
- nanostructure design
- trace detection
- analytical sensing
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