Abstract

Since its discovery more than 50 years ago, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has evolved from a scientific curiosity into a powerful analytical tool in nanoscience. By exploiting the interaction between light and metallic nanostructures, SERS can amplify molecular Raman signals by many orders of magnitude, enabling the detection of extremely small amounts of chemical species.

This talk will introduce the fundamental principles underlying this phenomenon, connecting the basics of Raman spectroscopy with advances in plasmonic nanomaterials that enable the rational design of nanostructures capable of concentrating electromagnetic fields at the nanoscale. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of surface chemistry, which ultimately governs how molecules interact with the plasmonic interface and how the SERS signal is generated. Finally, representative examples will illustrate how these concepts can be translated into practical sensing strategies for the detection of biologically and environmentally relevant molecules.

Short bio

Luca Guerrini is a Professor in the Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV). His research focuses on the rational design, synthesis, and optical characterization of plasmonic nanomaterials, with particular emphasis on their application in molecular sensing using plasmon-enhanced spectroscopies. In 2001, he obtained his master’s degree summa cum laude in Industrial Chemistry from the Università degli Studi di Bologna (Italy). After several years in the private industrial sector, he returned to academia to pursue doctoral studies at the Instituto de Estructura de la Materia (CSIC, Madrid), obtaining his PhD in Physical Chemistry in 2009. He subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK) and at the University of Vigo (Spain), and in 2013 was awarded a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship at URV. He later worked as a senior researcher at Medcom Advance S.A., a nanotechnology spin-off, before joining URV as a Ramón y Cajal researcher (2017–2022) and subsequently as Associate Professor.

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ICMAB - "Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS): from fundamental principles to chemical sensing", by Luca Guerrini

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