Monitoring Catalytic Events Using Nanoparticle Single-Level SERS

One of the main draws of the annual SciX Conference is the breadth of the technical program that attendees have access to. As part of the conference program, many award recipients, along with being recognized and receiving their award at SciX, also get the opportunity to build out a technical session of their own at SciX, choosing their own speakers to deliver talks at the session in honor of their award.

Prashant Jain, who is a G. L. Clark Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), was recognized as the 2025 recipient of the Clara Craver Award from the Coblentz Society. The Clara Craver is given out annually by the Coblentz Society, and it recognizes an outstanding young molecular spectroscopist under the age of 45 who has made noteworthy contributions in applied analytical vibrational spectroscopy (1–3). Following his award talk on Sunday October 5^th, which was titled, “The Clara Craver Award: Catalysis Under the Light,” he chaired his award session on Monday October 6^th at the SciX Conference.

His award session featured five speakers: Catherine J. Murphy of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Zac Schultz of The Ohio State University; Andrew Wilson of the University of Louisville; Jean-Francois Masson of the Université de Montreal; and Matthew Sheldon of the University of California, Irvine. Murphy’s talk featured a discussion on the surface modification of gold nanorods for vibrational spectroscopy and their applications in biological systems. Schultz followed with a talk about super-resolution Raman imaging for bioimaging. Wilson shared his work on tracking intermediates in electro-catalytic reactions using surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Masson discussed optoplasmonic photo-catalysis, and Sheldon concluded the session with a talk about vibrational strong coupling and its application in plasmonics.

In our first interview segment with Jain, he reflected on Sunday’s Award Plenary at SciX, where he was recognized as the 2025 recipient of the Clara Craver Award (3). In this interview segment, Jain discusses the unique reaction pathways observed in light-driven chemistry on nanoparticles, particularly in CO₂ reduction, and the insights gained into the quantum mechanical mechanisms of these reactions.

This interview clip is part of our interview with Jain. To stay up to date with the latest coverage of the 2025 SciX Conference, click here.

References

1. Chasse, J. SERS-Based Nanoscale Insights into Surface Chemistry of CO₂ Photoreduction: An Interview with 2025 Clara Craver Award Winner Prashant Jain. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/sers-based-nanoscale-insights-into-surface-chemistry-of-co-photoreduction-an-interview-with-2025-clara-craver-award-winner-prashant-jain (accessed 2025-10-06).
2. SciX Conference, The Clara Craver Award: Catalysis Under the Light. SciX Conference. Available at: https://scixconference.org/2025-final-program (accessed 2025-10-06).
3. Wetzel, W.; Hroncich, C. Recapping the Sunday Award Plenary. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/recapping-the-sunday-award-plenary (accessed 2025-10-08).