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Advances in Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Sensors and Applications

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Prof. Dr. Yang-Wei Lin

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua City 50007, Taiwan
Interests: analytical chemistry; nanotechnology; nano-science education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Yung-Sheng Lin

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemical Engineering, National United University, Miaoli 360302, Taiwan
Interests: biomedical engineering; biomaterials; biomedical sensing; cosmetic science and technology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful spectroscopic technique offering exceptional sensitivity and molecular specificity. With the integration of plasmonic nanostructures and Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), SERS sensors are being revolutionized for detecting trace levels of chemical and biological analytes, including pesticides such as herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, and fungicides. This Special Issue invites contributions focusing on the design, fabrication, and application of SERS-active substrates, especially soft-patterned and flexible one, and sensor probes tailored for environmental and agricultural diagnostics. Recent studies have shown the potential of MOF-based SERS substrates in gas and pesticide sensing due to their tunable porosity and large surface area. In addition, metal nanoparticles remain pivotal in achieving high SERS enhancement factors. This issue aims to showcase advancements in the hybridization of functional materials, bio-derived or synthetic platforms, and nano-engineering strategies to improve sensor performance.

Prof. Dr. Yang-Wei Lin
Prof. Dr. Yung-Sheng Lin
Guest Editors

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Research

13 pages, 745 KB

Open AccessArticle

SERS-Enabled Direct Detection of Furfural in a Complex Oil Mixture

by Xiaoqin Zhang, Hongbin Zhu, Hao Liu, Jin Cao, Han Shi and Shanyuan Niu

Sensors 2026, 26(18), 5705; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26185705 - 8 Sep 2026

Abstract

Furfural is a pivotal indicator of the aging condition of transformer oil-paper insulation. Traditional analytical techniques such as liquid chromatography require sophisticated pretreatment and phase-separation procedures and are therefore not well suited to rapid oil-sample analysis. This study reports the direct analysis of furfural in complex oil mixtures using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The weak vibrational response of furfural in oil was enhanced using a Au-coated silicon nanowire substrate fabricated by metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE). The textured metal-coated surface enabled trace furfural at the μL/L level to be measured directly in the oil mixture without adsorption enrichment or chemical extraction, with the entire test process completed within 1 min. Peak deconvolution was used to extract the fitted area of the 1365 cm⁻¹ band, and the relationship between this Raman response and furfural concentration yielded R² = 0.9910. Temperature- and pressure-dependent measurements were also performed to examine their effects on the positions of the main Raman peaks. This work demonstrates a rapid approach for analyzing trace furfural in complex liquid mixtures and provides a basis for further spectroscopic studies of transformer oil-paper insulation aging. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Sensors and Applications)

15 pages, 3231 KB

Open AccessArticle

Confined Internal Standard Core–Gap–Shell Nanoprobes for Ratiometric SERS Sensing of Urine pH

by Xiao Wu, An Wang, Xiao Cai, Fan-Li Zhang and Bing Pei

Sensors 2026, 26(13), 4205; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26134205 - 3 Jul 2026

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 409

Abstract

Urine pH is an important biomarker related to metabolic status and urinary system health, but reliable SERS quantification in real urine remains limited by matrix interference, heterogeneous hotspot distribution, and the narrow response range of single pH-responsive molecules. Here, we report a core–gap–shell Au@1,4-BDT@Au@4-MBA/MPY nanoprobe for ratiometric SERS detection of urine pH. 1,4-BDT was confined within the gap between the gold core and shell as an internal standard, while 4-MBA and 4-MPY were co-assembled on the outer gold shell to provide complementary protonation/deprotonation responses. The internal standard-corrected ratio I₁₀₀₄/I₁₄₀₀/I₇₃₁ reduced signal fluctuation and enabled segmented linear fitting over pH = 1.0–7.0 and pH = 7.0–10.0, with coefficients of determination of 0.98806 and 0.99989, respectively. The sensing platform also maintained stable ratiometric responses under different interference conditions. In real urine samples from five volunteers, SERS-predicted pH values agreed well with commercial pH meter measurements, with relative accuracies of 98.71–101.9% and RSD values below 2.1%. This confined internal standard and dual-molecule ratiometric strategy provides a feasible approach for urine pH sensing in complex biofluid matrices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Sensors and Applications)

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