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Analytical chemists are continually striving to advance techniques to make it possible to observe and measure matter and processes at smaller and smaller scales. Professor Vartkess Ara Apkarian and his team at the University of California, Irvine have made a significant breakthrough in this quest: They have recorded the Raman spectrum of a single azobenzene thiol molecule. The approach, which breaks common tenets about surface-enhanced Raman scattering/spectroscopy (SERS) and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), involved imaging an isolated azobenzene thiol molecule on an atomically flat gold surface, then picking it up and recording its Raman spectrum using an electrochemically etched silver tip, in an ultrahigh vacuum cryogenic scanning tunneling microscope. For the resulting paper detailing the effort [1], Apkarian and his associates are the 2021 recipients of the William F. Meggers Award, given annually by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy to the authors of the outstanding paper appearing in the journal Applied Spectroscopy. We spoke to Apkarian about this research, and what being awarded this honor means to him and his team. This interview is part of an ongoing series with the winners of awards that are presented at the annual SciX conference. The award will be presented to Apkarian at this fall’s event, which will be held in person in Providence, Rhode Island, September 28–October 1.

Recording the Raman Spectrum of a Single Molecule 

Roy Goodacre, a professor of biological chemistry at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, first used SERS to achieve whole-organism fingerprinting of bacteria and then explored SERS in a variety of other applications, including within biotechnology, disease diagnostics, quantitative detection, imaging, food security, and more. Goodacre is the 2021 winner of the Charles Mann Award for Applied Raman Spectroscopy. This interview is part of an ongoing series of interviews with the winners of awards that are presented at the annual SciX conference.

Quantitative Analysis Using Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS): Roy Goodacre, the 2021 winner of the Charles Mann Award for Applied Raman Spectroscopy

Jerome Workman Jr. serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Spectroscopy and is currently with Unity Scientific LLC. He is also an adjunct professor at Liberty University and U.S. National University. He can be reached at jworkman04@gsb.columbia.edu.

L. Robert Baker is an associate professor at The Ohio State University in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. His research focuses on X-ray spectroscopy, nonlinear and time-resolved spectroscopy, the chemistry of surfaces and interface science, and energy conversion and catalysis—work that may lead to better solar energy conversion materials. He is the winner of the 2021 Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy Award, which is presented by Spectroscopy magazine. This annual award, begun in 2017, recognizes the achievements and aspirations of a talented young atomic spectroscopist, selected by an independent scientific committee.

The 2021 Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy: Using X-ray Spectroscopy to Understand Surface Science and Energy Conversion

Zac Schultz of The Ohio State University and his team used tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with gold nanostars to investigate chemical reactions involved in protein–ligand binding. He recently spoke with Spectroscopy about his findings.

Investigating Protein Receptors and Other Biomolecules Using SERS and TERS

In recent years, concerns have arisen about the potential accumulation of lanthanides, like lanthanum and gadolinium, in the human body as a result of their use in clinical treatments or imaging contrast agents, or from exposure through drinking water contaminated with contrast agents. Laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) imaging, which can provide spatially resolved quantification of trace elements in biological samples, is a powerful tool to investigate these questions. Uwe Karst, of the University of Münster in Germany, has been conducting research in this area, and he recently spoke to us about this work. Karst is the 2021 recipient of the Lester W. Strock Award from the New England Chapter of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS). This interview is part of an ongoing series of interviews with the winners of awards that are presented at the annual SciX conference, which will be held this year from September 26 through October 1, in Providence, Rhode Island.

Investigating Lanthanide Deposition Patterns in Tissue Using LA-ICP-MS Imaging

Raman spectroscopy offers promise for the evaluation of breast cell lines and tissue. Rina Tannenbaum of Stony Brook University discusses this work.

Raman Spectroscopy in the Detection of Breast Cancer

Dmitry Kurouski of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, is applying Raman spectroscopy to important applications in agriculture for identification and classification of various plant species, for quantification of essential plant constituents, for disease diagnosis in plants, and for Raman-based digital and precision farming. He and his colleagues are at the forefront of using the advantages of Raman based measurements for non-invasive and non-destructive analyses for important field and remote measurement applications.  

Spectroscopy for Analysis of Botanicals: Raman-Based Agriculture and Detection of Important Chemical Constituents in Plant Materials

Although ICP-OES and ICP-MS are often considered mature techniques, probing the mechanisms involved can lead to more accurate results, and in some cases, cast doubt on accepted explanations. John Olesik shares some surprises he has encountered, in this first part of a two-part interview series.

Fundamental Research and Applications of ICP-OES and ICP-MS Toward Improved Understanding of Elemental Chemical Analysis: Part I

Mun Seok Jeong of the Department of Energy Science at Sungkyunkwan University in Korea is exploring the nanoscale of material science using a suite of new spectroscopy tools. We recently spoke to him about his work.

Advancing Spectroscopy into the Nanoworld of Materials Science: Vibrational Nanoscopy, Infrared Nanoscopy, and Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Tobias Konz of Nestlé Research, Lausanne, Switzerland and various associates have developed and validated what they describe as a reliable, robust, and easy-to-implement quantitative method for multielemental analysis of low-volume samples. The ICP-MS-based method comprises the analysis of 20 elements (Mg, P, S, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Mo, I, Cs, and Ba) in 10 μL of serum and 12 elements (Mg, S, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn Se, Br, Rb, Mo, and Cs) in less than 250,000 cells, and involved the analysis of elemental profiles of serum and sorted immune T cells derived from naıv̈e and tumor-bearing mice. The results indicate a tumor systemic effect on the elemental profiles of both serum and T cells. Konz and his colleagues believe their approach highlights promising applications of multielemental analysis in precious samples such as rare cell populations or limited volumes of biofluids that could provide a deeper understanding of the essential role of elements as cofactors in biological and pathological processes. Konz spoke to us about this work.

Spectroscopy Interviews