Since the last century big science relates increasingly to innovation relevant to the welfare of the society. Thus, basic research was channelled into applied research into technological progress. At the beginning of the 21st century the socio-political pressure on science increases to deliver comprehensive solutions for the grand challenges, i.e. environment, health, energy, mobility, security, sustainable growth and food. Analytical Chemistry has been traditionally focused on methods and instruments which often resulted to biased opinions on analytical sciences as a scientific discipline within the field of chemistry. However, paradigm shifts are often induced through artificial shifts, i.e. tools and protocols. Not surprisingly, a closer look discovers Analytical Chemistry at the core of many of today’s fundamental and applied scientific problems and innovations. The talk will discuss the meaningful role and positioning of Analytical Chemistry in different scenarios and solutions for the grand challenges, i.e. energy material discovery, environmental chemistry, and sustainable growth. In addition, the consequences of the digital transformation will be considered to explore the possibilities of data-driven Analytical Chemistry.

Since the last century big science relates increasingly to innovation relevant to the welfare of the society. Thus, basic research was channelled into applied research into technological progress. At the beginning of the 21st century the socio-political pressure on science increases to deliver comprehensive solutions for the grand challenges, i.e. environment, health, energy, mobility, security, sustainable growth and food. Analytical Chemistry has been traditionally focused on methods and instruments which often resulted to biased opinions on analytical sciences as a scientific discipline within the field of chemistry. However, paradigm shifts are often induced through artificial shifts, i.e. tools and protocols. Not surprisingly, a closer look discovers Analytical Chemistry at the core of many of today’s fundamental and applied scientific problems and innovations. The talk will discuss the meaningful role and positioning of Analytical Chemistry in different scenarios and solutions for the grand challenges, i.e. energy material discovery, environmental chemistry, and sustainable growth. In addition, the consequences of the digital transformation will be considered to explore the possibilities of data-driven Analytical Chemistry.

Since the last century big science relates increasingly to innovation relevant to the welfare of the society. Thus, basic research was channelled into applied research into technological progress. At the beginning of the 21st century the socio-political pressure on science increases to deliver comprehensive solutions for the grand challenges, i.e. environment, health, energy, mobility, security, sustainable growth and food. Analytical Chemistry has been traditionally focused on methods and instruments which often resulted to biased opinions on analytical sciences as a scientific discipline within the field of chemistry. However, paradigm shifts are often induced through artificial shifts, i.e. tools and protocols. Not surprisingly, a closer look discovers Analytical Chemistry at the core of many of today’s fundamental and applied scientific problems and innovations. The talk will discuss the meaningful role and positioning of Analytical Chemistry in different scenarios and solutions for the grand challenges, i.e. energy material discovery, environmental chemistry, and sustainable growth. In addition, the consequences of the digital transformation will be considered to explore the possibilities of data-driven Analytical Chemistry.

Raman microspectroscopy (RM) has been recognized as a powerful analytical tool in science and industry. RM is based on the effect of inelastic light scattering by molecules, providing fingerprint spectra with spatial resolution in the µm-range. However, the potential of this technique for the identification, quantification and characterization of different environmental matrices/systems – ranging from microplastics and nanoplastics through atmospheric aerosol particles and (bio)diesel soot to microorganisms and biofilms – has not yet been systematically explored. Furthermore, RM can open the possibility for nondestructive quantitative analysis of the stable-isotope tracers in (in)organic and (micro)biological samples. The sensitivity of the technique can be improved dramatically (by a factor of 103 – 106) when the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is employed, e.g. for studies of microbial communities. In this lecture, different application fields for Raman microspectroscopy will be illustrated. The feasibility and limitations of the method will be discussed, with the focus on the analysis of microplastics and nanoplastics (plastic particles in the size range 1 µm – 1 mm and <1 µm, resp.) [1-4] as well as microorganisms and biofilms [5,6]. In particular, the progress in developing automated RM-based analysis, which allows for reliable detection, identification and quantification of (plastic) microparticles, will be shown [2]. Additionally, nanoplastic analysis using online coupling of RM and field-flow fractionation will be discussed. This coupling, enabled by optical tweezers, allows for physical and chemical characterization of plastic and inorganic particles in size range from 200 nm to 5 µm [4]. Furthermore, RM and SERS in combination with the stableisotope approach that has a potential for single-cell sorting will be presented. This powerful tool also enables the nondestructive 2D and 3D characterization of the molecular and isotopic composition of microorganisms on the single-cell level [6], thus paving the way for in situ investigations of ecophysiology and metabolic functions of microbial communities and analysis of the degradation of environmental pollutants.

Raman microspectroscopy (RM) has been recognized as a powerful analytical tool in science and industry. RM is based on the effect of inelastic light scattering by molecules, providing fingerprint spectra with spatial resolution in the µm-range. However, the potential of this technique for the identification, quantification and characterization of different environmental matrices/systems – ranging from microplastics and nanoplastics through atmospheric aerosol particles and (bio)diesel soot to microorganisms and biofilms – has not yet been systematically explored. Furthermore, RM can open the possibility for nondestructive quantitative analysis of the stable-isotope tracers in (in)organic and (micro)biological samples. The sensitivity of the technique can be improved dramatically (by a factor of 103 – 106) when the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is employed, e.g. for studies of microbial communities. In this lecture, different application fields for Raman microspectroscopy will be illustrated. The feasibility and limitations of the method will be discussed, with the focus on the analysis of microplastics and nanoplastics (plastic particles in the size range 1 µm – 1 mm and <1 µm, resp.) [1-4] as well as microorganisms and biofilms [5,6]. In particular, the progress in developing automated RM-based analysis, which allows for reliable detection, identification and quantification of (plastic) microparticles, will be shown [2]. Additionally, nanoplastic analysis using online coupling of RM and field-flow fractionation will be discussed. This coupling, enabled by optical tweezers, allows for physical and chemical characterization of plastic and inorganic particles in size range from 200 nm to 5 µm [4]. Furthermore, RM and SERS in combination with the stableisotope approach that has a potential for single-cell sorting will be presented. This powerful tool also enables the nondestructive 2D and 3D characterization of the molecular and isotopic composition of microorganisms on the single-cell level [6], thus paving the way for in situ investigations of ecophysiology and metabolic functions of microbial communities and analysis of the degradation of environmental pollutants.

Raman microspectroscopy (RM) has been recognized as a powerful analytical tool in science and industry. RM is based on the effect of inelastic light scattering by molecules, providing fingerprint spectra with spatial resolution in the µm-range. However, the potential of this technique for the identification, quantification and characterization of different environmental matrices/systems – ranging from microplastics and nanoplastics through atmospheric aerosol particles and (bio)diesel soot to microorganisms and biofilms – has not yet been systematically explored. Furthermore, RM can open the possibility for nondestructive quantitative analysis of the stable-isotope tracers in (in)organic and (micro)biological samples. The sensitivity of the technique can be improved dramatically (by a factor of 103 – 106) when the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is employed, e.g. for studies of microbial communities. In this lecture, different application fields for Raman microspectroscopy will be illustrated. The feasibility and limitations of the method will be discussed, with the focus on the analysis of microplastics and nanoplastics (plastic particles in the size range 1 µm – 1 mm and <1 µm, resp.) [1-4] as well as microorganisms and biofilms [5,6]. In particular, the progress in developing automated RM-based analysis, which allows for reliable detection, identification and quantification of (plastic) microparticles, will be shown [2]. Additionally, nanoplastic analysis using online coupling of RM and field-flow fractionation will be discussed. This coupling, enabled by optical tweezers, allows for physical and chemical characterization of plastic and inorganic particles in size range from 200 nm to 5 µm [4]. Furthermore, RM and SERS in combination with the stableisotope approach that has a potential for single-cell sorting will be presented. This powerful tool also enables the nondestructive 2D and 3D characterization of the molecular and isotopic composition of microorganisms on the single-cell level [6], thus paving the way for in situ investigations of ecophysiology and metabolic functions of microbial communities and analysis of the degradation of environmental pollutants.

Non-linear excitation offers several methodological advantages over one-photon excitation, particularly for the studies of biological objects, mainly related to its lower-energy excitation and the strong confinement of the excitation volumes. If a sample is excited with laser light, different physical processes can be used quasi-simultaneously for its optical and spectroscopic characterization. Depending on the responsible process, a great variety of information about a complex biological sample is obtained. We combine in one mircoscopic set-up different multiphoton-excited effects in particular incoherent hyper-Raman scattering (HRS), two-photon fluorescence (2-PF), and also other nonlinear, coherent optical signals, which can be obtained from the same sample, including second harmonic generation (SHG). The combination of all these data, also with one-photon ‘normal’ Raman scattering, enables a comprehensive spectroscopic imaging of complex samples, such as tissues from animals or plants. The enhancement of all effects by local optical fields of plasmonic structures, known and utilized for example in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), is particularly beneficial with two-photon excitation, due to the non-linearity. Surface enhanced hyper Raman scattering (SEHRS) is the spontaneous, two-photon excited Raman scattering that occurs for molecules residing in high local optical fields of plasmonic nanostructures. Being regarded as non-linear analogue of SERS, SEHRS shares most of its properties, but also has further characteristics. They include complementary spectroscopic information resulting from different selection rules. In practical spectroscopy, this can translate to advantages, the latter including a high selectivity when probing molecule-surface interactions, the possibility to probe molecules at low concentrations due to high enhancement, and the advantages that come with excitation in the near-infrared. In this talk, examples will be given of the wealth of vibrational spectroscopic information that can be obtained by SEHRS and discuss work that has contributed to understanding the effect and that therefore provides directions for SEHRS microspectroscopy. They include spectra of biological molecules such as nucleotides and amino acids, as well as whole cells. The local fields of plasmonic nanostructures can also enhance the second harmonic radiation. New combined plasmonic-harmonic probes for two-photon excitations will be presented and their application to obtain SHG together with SEHRS in biological samples will be discussed.

Non-linear excitation offers several methodological advantages over one-photon excitation, particularly for the studies of biological objects, mainly related to its lower-energy excitation and the strong confinement of the excitation volumes. If a sample is excited with laser light, different physical processes can be used quasi-simultaneously for its optical and spectroscopic characterization. Depending on the responsible process, a great variety of information about a complex biological sample is obtained. We combine in one mircoscopic set-up different multiphoton-excited effects in particular incoherent hyper-Raman scattering (HRS), two-photon fluorescence (2-PF), and also other nonlinear, coherent optical signals, which can be obtained from the same sample, including second harmonic generation (SHG). The combination of all these data, also with one-photon ‘normal’ Raman scattering, enables a comprehensive spectroscopic imaging of complex samples, such as tissues from animals or plants. The enhancement of all effects by local optical fields of plasmonic structures, known and utilized for example in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), is particularly beneficial with two-photon excitation, due to the non-linearity. Surface enhanced hyper Raman scattering (SEHRS) is the spontaneous, two-photon excited Raman scattering that occurs for molecules residing in high local optical fields of plasmonic nanostructures. Being regarded as non-linear analogue of SERS, SEHRS shares most of its properties, but also has further characteristics. They include complementary spectroscopic information resulting from different selection rules. In practical spectroscopy, this can translate to advantages, the latter including a high selectivity when probing molecule-surface interactions, the possibility to probe molecules at low concentrations due to high enhancement, and the advantages that come with excitation in the near-infrared. In this talk, examples will be given of the wealth of vibrational spectroscopic information that can be obtained by SEHRS and discuss work that has contributed to understanding the effect and that therefore provides directions for SEHRS microspectroscopy. They include spectra of biological molecules such as nucleotides and amino acids, as well as whole cells. The local fields of plasmonic nanostructures can also enhance the second harmonic radiation. New combined plasmonic-harmonic probes for two-photon excitations will be presented and their application to obtain SHG together with SEHRS in biological samples will be discussed.

Non-linear excitation offers several methodological advantages over one-photon excitation, particularly for the studies of biological objects, mainly related to its lower-energy excitation and the strong confinement of the excitation volumes. If a sample is excited with laser light, different physical processes can be used quasi-simultaneously for its optical and spectroscopic characterization. Depending on the responsible process, a great variety of information about a complex biological sample is obtained. We combine in one mircoscopic set-up different multiphoton-excited effects in particular incoherent hyper-Raman scattering (HRS), two-photon fluorescence (2-PF), and also other nonlinear, coherent optical signals, which can be obtained from the same sample, including second harmonic generation (SHG). The combination of all these data, also with one-photon ‘normal’ Raman scattering, enables a comprehensive spectroscopic imaging of complex samples, such as tissues from animals or plants. The enhancement of all effects by local optical fields of plasmonic structures, known and utilized for example in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), is particularly beneficial with two-photon excitation, due to the non-linearity. Surface enhanced hyper Raman scattering (SEHRS) is the spontaneous, two-photon excited Raman scattering that occurs for molecules residing in high local optical fields of plasmonic nanostructures. Being regarded as non-linear analogue of SERS, SEHRS shares most of its properties, but also has further characteristics. They include complementary spectroscopic information resulting from different selection rules. In practical spectroscopy, this can translate to advantages, the latter including a high selectivity when probing molecule-surface interactions, the possibility to probe molecules at low concentrations due to high enhancement, and the advantages that come with excitation in the near-infrared. In this talk, examples will be given of the wealth of vibrational spectroscopic information that can be obtained by SEHRS and discuss work that has contributed to understanding the effect and that therefore provides directions for SEHRS microspectroscopy. They include spectra of biological molecules such as nucleotides and amino acids, as well as whole cells. The local fields of plasmonic nanostructures can also enhance the second harmonic radiation. New combined plasmonic-harmonic probes for two-photon excitations will be presented and their application to obtain SHG together with SEHRS in biological samples will be discussed.

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