Applications of Raman and Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Techniques to Humic Substances

This paper highlights the use of Raman, FT-Raman and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) techniques for the study of humic substances. In contrast to other technologies which reveal information only about the average compositions and the kinds of functional groups present in humic substances, Raman and especially FT-Raman spectroscopies characterize the building blocks of humic substances and their changes in derivation and separation processes. Furthermore, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) techniques are able to readily detect humic substances and co-existing organic species at low concentrations typically found in natural environments and reveal definitive information about the specific groups in humic substances that bind on metal electrodes. Further applications of both Raman and SERS techniques can be extended to complicated systems as well as real environmental samples. Experiments have demonstrated: (1). the backbones of humic substances are structurally disordered carbon networks in most cases; (2). The backbones of humic substances from different sources and types are similar to each other; (3). Normal Raman spectroscopic study of humic substances should concentrate on the use of near-IR laser(s) resulting from strong fluorescence background and self-adsorption under the excitation with visible laser irradiation; (4). FT-Raman spectroscopy is the required analytical method to assess the effectivity of fractionation methods; (5). SERS spectra of humic substances on metal colloids and films are in most aces very similar to the corresponding Raman spectra of neutralized samples; (6). SERS techniques are very sensitive and highly selective, also both visible lasers and near-IR lasers can be used for SERS study; (7). SERS spectra on metal electrodes may provide additional information about the binding sites and adsorption mechanisms of humic substances on metal surfaces.     

Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering of protoberberine alkaloids

Quaternary protoberberine alkaloids are a class of natural dyes characterized by bright colors ranging from yellow to orange. As they present a strong fluorescence emission, their analysis by Raman spectroscopy is limited to specific techniques such as Fourier transform (FT)‐Raman and spectral shift Raman techniques such as shifted subtracted Raman difference spectroscopy (SSRDS) and shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS). In a previous article, we successfully used surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in the analysis of the alkaloid dye berberine in an ancient textile. The examination of the Raman and SERS spectra of berberine in combination with density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicated a flat adsorption geometry of the molecule on the Ag surface. In this article we extend that work to the study of related protoberberine alkaloids, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, and coptisine. The same adsorption geometry as in berberine was deduced. We found that the four alkaloids, although minimally different in their chemical structures, could be differentiated by the position of marker bands. Those bands are the most enhanced ones in the SERS spectra, which appear in the 700–800 cm⁻¹ region. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Raman spectroscopy of dipyrrins: nonresonant,resonant and surface‐enhanced cross‐sections and enhancement factors

Detailed studies of the mechanism of surface‐enhanced (resonance) Raman spectroscopy (SE(R)RS), and its applications, place a number of demands on the properties of SERS scatterers. With large Raman cross‐sections, versatile synthetic chemistry and complete lack of fluorescence, free dipyrrins meet these demands but the Raman and SE(R)RS spectroscopy of free dipyrrins is largely unknown. The first study of the Raman spectroscopy of free dipyrrins is therefore presented in this work. The nonresonant Raman, resonant Raman and surface‐enhanced Raman spectra of a typical meso aryl‐substituted‐dipyrrin are reported. Absolute differential cross‐sections are obtained for excitation wavelengths in the near infrared and visible region, in solution phase and for dipyrrin adsorbed on the surface of silver nanoparticles. Raman enhancement factors for SERRS and resonance Raman are calculated from the observed differential cross‐sections. The magnitudes of the resonantly enhanced cross‐sections are similar to those recently reported for strong SERS dyes such as Rhodamine 6G and Crystal Violet. Free dipyrrins offer the advantages of existing SERS dyes but without the drawback of strong fluorescence. Free dipyrrins should therefore find applications in all areas of Raman spectroscopy including fundamental studies of the mechanisms of SERS and bioanalytical and environmental applications. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fourier‐transform surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (FT‐SERS) applied to the identification of natural dyes in textile fibers: an extractionless approach to the analysis

In the present study, an application of a silver colloid substrate in order to obtain Fourier‐transform surface‐enhanced Raman (FT‐SER) spectra of natural historical dyes is presented. In detail, we collected a spectral database from solutions of pure dyes and then we carried out extractionless both hydrolysis and non‐hydrolysis FT‐SERS analyses on wool fibers previously dyed in our laboratory and on ancient textiles. The term ‘extractionless’ refers to a method of SERS analysis applied directly on the fiber, thus avoiding the extraction of dyes from textile samples. The combination of a low‐energy source of radiation, as in the FT‐Raman technique, with SER spectroscopy can bring the important advantage of reducing the fluorescence typical of ancient samples and organic dyes. In some historical textile samples, for which SER spectra by use of visible excitation could not be obtained, the FT‐SER spectrum of an iron‐gall dye was recorded without hydrolysis, while, with an HF hydrolysis pre‐treatment on ancient fibers, madder, lac dye and brazilwood were clearly recognized. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fluorescence and surface-enhanced vibrational spectroscopies of lawsone and plumbagin

The natural dyes lawsone and plumbagin (1,4-naphthoquinones) were studied by using fluorescence, Raman, infrared (IR), surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and surface-enhanced IR absorption. From the absorption spectrum, it was possible to infer that the enol-lawsone tautomer concentration decreases in silver colloidal solution. Plumbagin dimers, both in water and in silver colloidal solution, were identified from the fluorescence band profile and surface-SERS spectrum. The SERS spectrum of lawsone was obtained by using silver colloidal solution after 12-hour settle; the keto and enol lawsone silver colloid interaction occurs. The assignment of Raman and IR bands of both dyes was calculated with density functional theory calculations. Only a monomeric structure of lawsone interacting with a silver cluster model was predicted. The monomer adopts a nearly coplanar orientation onto the silver surface; the shortest distance is 3.2 Å, suggesting an electrostatic interaction.     

Identification of berberine in ancient and historical textiles by surface‐enhanced Raman scattering

The highly fluorescent natural dye berberine can be easily identified in microscopic textile samples by surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy employing citrate‐reduced Ag colloid. The ordinary Raman (OR) and SERS spectra of berberine are presented and discussed in the light of a DFT calculation. Using FT‐Raman and FT‐SERS we could reliably compare relative intensity shifts and investigate the adsorption geometry of berberine on Ag nanoparticles. The significant enhancement in the FT‐SERS spectrum of the out‐of‐plane ring system bending deformation mode at 729 cm⁻¹ relative to a group of in‐plane vibrations at around 1500 cm⁻¹ was interpreted as evidence of a ‘flat‐on’ adsorption geometry. SERS was successfully used to identify berberine in silk fiber samples coated with colloidal Ag following a pretreatment with HCl vapor. The SERS method allowed us to detect berberine in a microscopic sample of a single silk fiber from a severely degraded and soiled 17th Century Chinese textile fragment. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy for quantitative measurement of lactic acid at physiological concentration in human serum

Lactic acid is a simple and effective indicator for estimating physiological function. Rapid and sensitive detection of lactic acid is very useful in clinical diagnosis. However, the concentration of lactic acid in the physiological state is too low to be detected using traditional Raman spectroscopy. We applied silver colloidal nanoparticles‐mediated surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for rapid identification and quantification of lactic acid. The standard SERS spectra of lactic acid were defined and the 1395 cm⁻¹ band intensity was used for quantification from 0.3 to 2 mM (R² = 0.99). In clinical blood sample measurement, the ultrafiltration (cutoff value 5 kDa) can efficiently reduce background fluorescence to improve SERS performance. We established identical and optimal procedure by adjusting reaction time and volume ratio of serum and nanoparticles to obtain high SERS reproducibility. Finally, we showed that silver colloidal nanoparticles‐mediated SERS technique was successfully applied to detect lactic acid at physiological concentrations in the blood. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of alizarin by surface‐enhanced and FT‐Raman spectroscopy

This paper presents the application of Raman spectroscopy (RS) for the structural study of alizarin adsorbed on a metallic surface. As a biologically active molecule, alizarin has remarkable antigenotoxic activity like other anthraquinone dyes. Alizarin is highly fluorescent and that limits the application of RS as an investigation method; however, the Fourier transform‐RS (FTRS) can be applied since the near‐infrared excitation line lies far away from the absorption region of alizarin. The surface enhanced‐RS (SERS) technique also makes the fluorescence quenching possible. In this work, monolayers of alizarin were deposited on the surface of an electrode by the immersion of silver substrates in methanolic solution of the analyte. From such prepared samples, by using the excitation of 488, 514.5 and 647.1 nm the Raman spectra were registered. Depending on the excitation line, SERS or surface‐enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) spectra of alizarin were observed. The interpretation of experimental data was supported by theoretical calculations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

指纹光谱病原菌快速检测研究进展与趋势

病原菌检测对于保障饮用水和食品安全,应对突发公共卫生事件至关重要。现行检测标准或方法存在操作耗时费力,成本高等缺陷,难以满足现代社会高时效性要求,因此开发操作简单、低成本的病原菌快检技术迫在眉睫。近年来,随着激光技术和光电探测技术的高速发展,能够快速获取微生物指纹信息的激光光谱引起了研究者的广泛关注,其中表面增强拉曼光谱（SERS）和激光诱导击穿光谱（LIBS）由于具有快速、原位无损或微损检测等优点,在病原菌快速检测领域广受关注。SERS作为一种分子振动光谱技术,是在常规拉曼（Raman）光谱中引入具有光学信号放大作用的贵金属纳米结构,实现Raman信号数量级的提升同时能够猝灭荧光,因此可以快速获取目标分子的指纹光谱信息。然而受贵金属纳米粒子的材质、形貌、大小等自身属性,以及与待测物距离等多种因素的影响,重现性仍然是SERS在细菌检测中的一大瓶颈。LIBS作为一种新兴的原子发射光谱技术,具有多元素实时检测的能力,可以快速获取样品包括微量和痕量元素在内的所有元素信息。LIBS进行细菌分类和鉴别时,为了降低基底、共存基质的元素干扰,需采集大量纯培养细菌的光谱数据,不仅增加了检测周期,同时带来定性定量难两全的局面。结合SERS和LIBS技术在病原菌快检领域的研究现状,综述了两类方法各自的优势和局限性,并对其在病原菌快速检测领域的发展趋势进行了展望,为开发基于激光光谱的病原菌快检技术提供参考意见。     

SERS detection of red organic dyes in Ag‐agar gel

Micro‐Raman spectroscopy has been widely employed in the last few years for the study of artworks, allowing for the characterization of a high class of pictorial materials. However, the detection of organic dyes by conventional Raman spectroscopy is quite difficult, due to the high fluorescence provided by these compounds. Recently, remarkable improvements have been achieved by the introduction of the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technique for the analysis of organic dyes. In the present work, a new method is presented, based on the use of a SERS probe made of agar‐agar coupled with silver nanoparticles, for a non‐destructive and minimally invasive micro‐extraction of dyes from textiles. Ag‐agar gel has been tested first on textile mock‐ups dyed with alizarin, purpurin and carminic acid. SERS measurements have been performed adopting laser light excitations at 514.5 and 785 nm of a micro‐Raman setup. Highly structured SERS band intensities have been obtained. After having verified the safety of the method by colorimetric, X‐ray fluorescence and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared techniques, a real case, a pre‐Columbian piece of textile, have been investigated by Ag‐agar gel. This cutting‐edge method offers new possibilities for a sensitive and non‐destructive analysis of fluorescent materials. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation and characterisation of a stable silver colloid for SER(R)S spectroscopy

A method for the reproducible preparation of a silver colloid with strong surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) properties, good stability with a zeta potential of −55 mV and a shelf life exceeding 1 year is reported. The mean particle size is 20 nm with a narrow size distribution of 10–30 nm. The colloid is produced by the reduction of silver nitrate with hydroxylamine phosphate to give a negatively charged phosphate surface on the silver particles. This is an ultrafast room temperature reaction and with controlled rapid addition and dispersion of reagents, very reproducible batches of colloid can be prepared making it suitable for commercial applications of Surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering(SER(R)S) spectroscopy. The stability of the colloid is attributed to the extremely low solubility product (K_sp) of silver phosphate. Characterisation and stability study data for this colloid have been obtained by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, particle size analysis and SERS analyses using a 514 nm laser on a Raman spectrometer. A SERS method to detect and to identify riboflavin in a vitamin B complex tablet is reported to illustrate a SERS application based upon the use of this silver colloid. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implementation of a novel low‐noise InGaAs detector enabling rapid near‐infrared multichannel Raman spectroscopy of pigmented biological samples

Pigmented tissues are inaccessible to Raman spectroscopy using visible laser light because of the high level of laser‐induced tissue fluorescence. The fluorescence contribution to the acquired Raman signal can be reduced by using an excitation wavelength in the near infrared range around 1000 nm. This will shift the Raman spectrum above 1100 nm, which is the principal upper detection limit for silicon‐based CCD detectors. For wavelengths above 1100 nm indium gallium arsenide detectors can be used. However, InGaAs detectors have not yet demonstrated satisfactory noise level characteristics for demanding Raman applications. We have tested and implemented for the first time a novel sensitive InGaAs imaging camera with extremely low readout noise for multichannel Raman spectroscopy in the short‐wave infrared (SWIR) region. The effective readout noise of two electrons is comparable to that of high quality CCDs and two orders of magnitude lower than that of other commercially available InGaAs detector arrays. With an in‐house built Raman system we demonstrate detection of shot‐noise limited high quality Raman spectra of pigmented samples in the high wavenumber region, whereas a more traditional excitation laser wavelength (671 nm) could not generate a useful Raman signal because of high fluorescence. Our Raman instrument makes it possible to substantially decrease fluorescence background and to obtain high quality Raman spectra from pigmented biological samples in integration times well below 20 s. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy of DNA from leaves of in vitro grown apple plants

Ultrasensitive Raman measurements of nucleic acids are possible by exploiting the effect of surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). In this work, the vibrational spectra of eight genomic DNAs from in vitro grown apple leaf tissues (Malus domestica Borkh., Fam Rosaceae, cvs. Florina, Idared, Rebra, Goldrush, Romus 3, Romus 4 and the rootstocks M9 and M26) were analyzed using surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy, in the wavenumber range 200–1800 cm⁻¹. SERS signatures, spectroscopic band assignments and structural interpretations of these plant genomic DNAs are reported. Strong dependences of the SERS spectra on genomic DNA amount in the measured sample volume and on time were observed. Similarities of the SERS signals of DNAs from Rebra and Romus 3 leaves were detected. To our knowledge, this is the first SERS study on genomic DNA from leaf tissues. The present work provides a basis for future use of surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy to analyze specific plant DNA–ligand interactions or DNA structural changes induced by plants' stress conditions associated with their natural environment. Besides, this study will generate information that is valuable in the development of low‐level plant DNA‐based analytical sensors. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

薄层色谱与表面增强拉曼散射光谱联用技术的研究进展

表面增强拉曼光谱（SERS）作为一种快速、灵敏的分析技术,被广泛应用于分析化学、环境检测及食品安全等领域。在实际生活中的样品大多为混合物,直接使用SERS技术无法对复杂样品中的分析物进行准确测定。薄层色谱（TLC）分离技术具有操作简便,成本低廉及分离速度快等特点,TLC作为一种高通量的分离技术在合成化学、分析化学、药物化学及食品科学等研究领域得到了广泛的应用。TLC对待测物体系进行分离后,通过碘显色或荧光对分离的斑点进行可视化处理,再结合质谱,红外光谱、荧光光谱及SERS光谱等分析技术可以对分离物质进行定性及定量分析。TLC与SERS联用技术的出现,使得SERS光谱可以应用于混合物中分析物的有效测定。TLC-SERS技术同时具备良好的分离作用和灵敏的光谱检测性能,适用于对复杂样品进行分离检测。在TLC-SERS检测过程中,样品用量少且无需使用复杂的实验设备即可实现对混合物现场快速检测。介绍了SERS的增强机理以及活性基底的制备,对TLC-SERS技术在环境污染物检测、食品安全、中草药鉴定及生物医学等方面的应用做了概括性综述。给出了TLC-SERS技术在有害物快检领域的应用实例,为TLC-SERS技术未来用于食品安全、法医鉴定及环境治理中快速检测方法建立及仪器设备研发提供参考。     

拉曼光谱法鉴定文物及艺术品中染料的研究进展

中国是丝绸之路的发源地,染色历史源远流长。文物及艺术品中的有机染料蕴含着制作年代、原料来源、染色工艺及保存状况等丰富的信息,但因染料成分复杂、含量低、易于降解,其鉴定一直是文物分析领域的难点。拉曼光谱作为一种指纹光谱在文物及艺术品中染料分析方面具有独特的优势。系统阐述了显微拉曼光谱法(MRS/μ-Raman)、近红外傅里叶变换拉曼光谱法(NIR-FT-Raman)、表面增强拉曼光谱法(SERS)、共振拉曼光谱(RRS)法的原理、特点、局限性以及在染料鉴定中的研究进展和发展方向; 分类归纳总结出了黄栀子、姜黄等染料的拉曼光谱特性; 对比分析了紫茜素在采用不同波长激光器激发下的荧光现象; 介绍了以自制的灰绿色银胶颗粒为基底,联合薄层色谱(TLC) 分离技术及SERS鉴定茜草中的色素,表明银溶胶微粒产生的表面增强效应可显著降低拉曼光谱荧光背底。指出拉曼光谱作为一种快速、便捷的结构定性测试手段在文物和艺术品染料分析中应用前景广阔,提出多种拉曼光谱技术相结合、拉曼光谱技术与分离技术相结合以及拉曼光谱技术与远距离传导技术相结合是拉曼光谱技术的发展趋势。     

基于银溶胶表面增强拉曼光谱对菠菜毒死蜱农药的快速检测

利用表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS)技术,建立了一种用于菠菜中毒死蜱农药残留的非破坏、快速检测方法。以碱性环境下盐酸羟胺还原法制备的银溶胶作为表面增强剂滴涂于菠菜样品表面后,采用实验室自行搭建的拉曼系统直接采集样品的拉曼信息,该方法无需对样品进行前处理,可以实现菠菜中毒死蜱含量的实时在线定量分析。采集24片不同毒死蜱含量的菠菜样品拉曼光谱,每个样品采集20个点。拉曼信号采集后,用气相色谱法对24个菠菜样品中毒死蜱含量进行检测。为了消除光谱噪音以及荧光背景对分析建模的影响,分别采用Savitzky-Golay平滑和有效峰线性拟合法对原始拉曼光谱进行预处理。该表面增强拉曼方法具有较好的重复性,实验中对50个相同毒死蜱含量,但不同状态的菠菜进行光谱采集,其相对标准偏差为13.4%,说明该方法具有一定的普适性。光谱预处理后,选取615.5~626.4 cm-1波段为感兴趣区域,建立0.05~37.4 mg·kg-1浓度范围内毒死蜱含量的多元线性预测模型,结果表明感兴趣区域的拉曼信号和毒死蜱浓度呈良好的线性关系,其校正集和验证集相关系数R_C和R_P分别为0.961和0.954。该方法的最低检出含量为0.05 mg·kg-1,低于国家标准规定的农药残留最大限量。该方法简单快速,无需样品前处理,可以实现果蔬的农药残留快速、定量检测。     

银纳米粒子的SERS效应和SEF效应在微流控芯片光学检测中的应用

银纳米离子的SERS技术和SEF技术的信号检测灵敏度非常高,可以用在微流控芯片的定量分析中。为了提高微流控芯片光学检测技术的检测精度,提出一种在微通道中添加银纳米粒子来增强SYBR GreenⅠ拉曼和荧光信号的方法,并对该方法的原理和增强效果进行了研究。首先,利用准分子激光器在PMMA基板上直写刻蚀出宽200 μm、深68 μm的微通道,接着将制备的银前体溶液加入微通道,通过加热制备出表面增强拉曼（SERS）和表面增强荧光（SEF）基板,接下来对添加银纳米粒子前后的拉曼和荧光信号分别进行对比,进一步研究了微通道中不同浓度银纳米粒子对SYBR GREEN I的拉曼和荧光信号增强效果。添加银纳米粒子后,表面增强拉曼（SERS）实验的增强因子为3.5×10³,添加银纳米粒子的样品的荧光信号强度与不含银纳米粒子样品的荧光信号强度相比,约增加了1倍。结果表明,在微通道中检测SYBR Green I时通过增加银纳米粒子显著地增强了拉曼和荧光信号,这种方法可以用在以SYBR GreenⅠ做染料的微流控芯片检测技术中。     

Single-molecule surface- and tip-enhanced raman spectroscopy

A review is given on single-molecule surface- and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS and TERS). It sketches the historical development along different routes toward huge near-field enhancements, the basis of single-molecule enhanced Raman spectroscopy; from SNOM to apertureless SNOM to tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) and microscopy; from SERS to single-molecule SERS to single-molecule TERS. The claim of extremely high enhancement factors of 10¹⁴ in single-molecule SERS is critically discussed, in particular in the view of recent experimental and theoretical results that limits the electromagnetic enhancement to ? 10¹¹. In the field of TERS only very few reports on single-molecule TERS exist: single-molecule TERS on dyes and on a protein (cytochrome c). In the latter case, TERS ‘sees’ even subunits of this protein, either amino-acids or the heme, depending on the orientation of the protein relative to the tip. The former case concerns the dye brilliant cresyl blue adsorbed either on a Au surface under ambient conditions or on a Au(111) surface in ultra high vacuum. These results indicate that significant progress is to be expected for TERS in general and for single-molecule TERS in particular.     

Characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using Raman and surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous atmospheric pollutants and food contaminants, which exhibit potent carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and teratogenicity. Vibrational spectroscopy techniques, especially Raman spectroscopy and surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), can be potentially used as an alternative technique to liquid and gas chromatography in PAH analysis. However, there is limited information on the intrinsic Raman and SERS fingerprints of PAHs. In this study, we have acquired the Raman and SERS spectra of seven PAH compounds and compared their experimental spectra with theoretical Raman spectra calculated by density function theory (DFT). The vibrational modes corresponding to the Raman peaks have also been assigned using DFT. Characteristic Raman and SERS peaks have been identified for five PAH compounds, and the limits of detection were estimated. Such information could be useful for developing SERS assays for simple and rapid PAH identification. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of surface plasmon resonance wavelength on SERS activity of naturally grown silver nanoparticle ensemble

We present experimental results to quantify and optimize the surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity of naturally grown silver nanoparticles. Ag nanoparticle ensembles with mean equivalent radii ranging from 10.6 to 20.3 nm were prepared under ultrahigh vacuum conditions by Volmer–Weber growth on quartz plates. A tuning of the localized surface plasmon polariton resonance wavelength from 453 to 548 nm was performed by varying the morphology of the silver nanoparticles. The dependence of the SERS activity on the plasmon resonance wavelength was investigated with a Raman set‐up containing a microsystem light source with an emission line at 488 nm. Shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy was applied to remove the fluorescence‐based background from the SERS spectra of pyrene in water using two slightly different emission wavelengths (487.61 and 487.91 nm) of the microsystem light source. We demonstrate that the Raman activities for all SERS substrates are available in the nanomolar range in a water sample. However, the Raman activity crucially depends on the plasmon resonance wavelength of the nanoparticle ensembles. Although for an on‐resonance ensemble the limit of detection for pyrene in water is very low and was estimated to be 2 nmol/L, it increases rapidly to several tens of nanomol for slightly off‐resonance ensembles. Hence, the highest SERS activity was obtained with a nanoparticle ensemble exhibiting a plasmon resonance wavelength at 491 nm, which almost coincides with the excitation wavelengths. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.