Zeitschrift für analytische und bioanalytische Techniken

Abstrakt

Application of the SERS Spectroscopy to the Study of Catalytic Reactions by Means of Mono and Bimetallic Nanoparticles

Maurizio Muniz-Miranda

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has long since found wide application in the field of heterogeneous catalysis for both chemical and photochemical reactions. Actually, this technique allows the in-situ detection of reactants or products or by-products in reactions that take place at the surface of nanostructured metals like silver, gold and copper. Silver nanoparticles, when activated by adsorption of chloride anions, are able to catalyze reactions for adsorbed molecules, in addition to promote higher SERS enhancements. Bimetallic nanoparticles, made of silver as SERS-active metal and another metal with strong performance in heterogeneous catalysis like palladium, or metal oxide such as titania, extremely active in photoreactions, allow monitoring the time evolution of different reactions by observing the changes observed in the SERS bands of the adsorbed species.