The inelastic scattering of light, Raman scattering, presents a very low cross section. However, the signal can be amplified by several orders of magnitude, leading to the so-called surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) phenomenon. Basically, the SERS effect is achieved when the target molecule (analyte) is adsorbed onto metallic nanoparticles, usually noble metals. This article presents an overview of the applications of SERS to cancer diagnosis and the detection of pesticides, explosives, and drugs (illicit and pharmacological). SERS is routinely applied nowadays to detect and identify analytes at very low concentrations, including for single-molecule detection. However, the application of SERS as an analytical tool requires reliable and reproducible SERS substrates, in terms of enhancement factors, which depends on the size, shape, and aggregation of the metallic nanoparticles. Therefore, the production of reliable and reproducible SERS substrates is a challenge in the field. Besides, the metallic nanoparticles can also induce changes in the system by possible interactions with the analyte under investigation, which must be taken into account. This review will present work in which, under certain specific experimental conditions, SERS has been analytically applied.

The application of organic thin films as transducer elements in electronic devices has been widely exploited, with the electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) technique being one of the most powerful tools to produce such films. The conventional LbL method, however, is restricted in many cases to water soluble compounds. Here, an alternative way to produce LbL films containing iron phthalocyanine (FePc) in non-aqueous media (chloroform) is presented. This film fabrication was made possible by exploiting the specific interactions between Fe and NH₂ groups from PAH, poly(allylamine hydrochloride) used as the supporting layer, leading to the formation of bilayers structured as (PAH/FePc)_n . We have also incorporated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in LbL films with (PAH/FePc/AgNP)_n trilayers, making it possible to achieve the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) phenomenon. The molecular architecture of the LbL films was determined through different techniques. The growth was monitored with UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, their morphology characterized by optical and scanning electron (SEM) microscopes, and their molecular organization determined using FTIR. The electrochemical properties of the LbL films were successfully applied in detecting dopamine in KCl aqueous solutions at different concentrations using cyclic voltammetry. The results confirmed that the LbL films from FePc in non-aqueous media keep their electroactivity, while showing an interesting electrocatalytic effect. The SERS phenomenon suggested that FePc aggregates might be directly involved in the maintenance of the electroactivity of the LbL films.

The control of molecular architectures has been a key factor for the use of Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films in biosensors, especially because biomolecules can be immobilized with preserved activity. In this paper we investigated the incorporation of tyrosinase (Tyr) in mixed Langmuir films of arachidic acid (AA) and a lutetium bisphthalocyanine (LuPc₂), which is confirmed by a large expansion in the surface pressure isotherm. These mixed films of AA–LuPc₂ + Tyr could be transferred onto ITO and Pt electrodes as indicated by FTIR and electrochemical measurements, and there was no need for crosslinking of the enzyme molecules to preserve their activity. Significantly, the activity of the immobilised Tyr was considerably higher than in previous work in the literature, which allowed Tyr-containing LB films to be used as highly sensitive voltammetric sensors to detect pyrogallol. Linear responses have been found up to 400 μM, with a detection limit of 4.87 × 10⁻² μM (n = 4) and a sensitivity of 1.54 μA μM⁻¹ cm⁻². In addition, the Hill coefficient (h = 1.27) indicates cooperation with LuPc₂ that also acts as a catalyst. The enhanced performance of the LB-based biosensor resulted therefore from a preserved activity of Tyr combined with the catalytic activity of LuPc₂, in a strategy that can be extended to other enzymes and analytes upon varying the LB film architecture.