research papers in chemistry

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The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Journals

Current journals

• Analyst 1876 - Present
• Analytical Methods 2009 - Present
• Biomaterials Science 2013 - Present
• Catalysis Science & Technology 2011 - Present
• Chemical Communications 1996 - Present
• Chemical Science 2010 - Present
• Chemical Society Reviews 1972 - Present
• Chemistry Education Research and Practice 2000 - Present
• CrystEngComm 1999 - Present
• Dalton Transactions 2003 - Present
• Digital Discovery 2022 - Present
• EES Batteries 2025 - This journal is coming soon
• EES Catalysis 2023 - Present
• EES Solar 2025 - This journal is coming soon
• Energy & Environmental Science 2008 - Present
• Energy Advances 2022 - Present
• Environmental Science: Advances 2022 - Present
• Environmental Science: Atmospheres 2021 - Present
• Environmental Science: Nano 2014 - Present
• Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 2013 - Present
• Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology 2015 - Present
• Faraday Discussions 1991 - Present
• Food & Function 2010 - Present
• Green Chemistry 1999 - Present
• Industrial Chemistry & Materials 2023 - Present
• Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers 2014 - Present
• Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 1986 - Present
• Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2013 - Present
• Journal of Materials Chemistry B 2013 - Present
• Journal of Materials Chemistry C 2013 - Present
• Lab on a Chip 2001 - Present
• Materials Advances 2020 - Present
• Materials Chemistry Frontiers 2017 - Present
• Materials Horizons 2014 - Present
• Molecular Omics 2018 - Present
• Molecular Systems Design & Engineering 2016 - Present
• Nanoscale 2009 - Present
• Nanoscale Advances 2018 - Present
• Nanoscale Horizons 2016 - Present
• Natural Product Reports 1984 - Present
• New Journal of Chemistry 1998 - Present
• Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry 2003 - Present
• Organic Chemistry Frontiers 2014 - Present
• Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 1999 - Present
• Polymer Chemistry 2010 - Present
• Reaction Chemistry & Engineering 2016 - Present
• RSC Advances 2011 - Present
• RSC Applied Interfaces 2023 - Present
• RSC Applied Polymers 2023 - Present
• RSC Chemical Biology 2020 - Present
• RSC Mechanochemistry 2024 - Present
• RSC Medicinal Chemistry 2020 - Present
• RSC Pharmaceutics 2024 - Present
• RSC Sustainability 2023 - Present
• Sensors & Diagnostics 2022 - Present
• Soft Matter 2005 - Present
• Sustainable Energy & Fuels 2017 - Present
• Sustainable Food Technology 2023 - Present

About our journals

The Royal Society of Chemistry publishes 58 peer-reviewed journals that cover the core chemical sciences including related fields such as biology, biophysics, energy and environment, engineering, materials, medicine and physics.

Open access

All of our journals offer authors the option to choose an open access licence. In addition to our subscription journals, where authors can also publish through the traditional route, we have a growing number of fully open access journals.

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Journals in Chemistry

Elsevier is home to many highly respected journals in the field, including prestigious society titles. We are proud to play an integral part in the chemistry community and to participate in the advancement of the field. All our journals are available online via  ScienceDirect.com opens in new tab/window , the essential information resource for over 15 million scientists worldwide.

Journal authors resources

Every year, we accept and publish more than 470,000 journal articles. Publishing in an Elsevier journal starts with finding the right journal for your paper. If you already know the journal to which you want to submit, you can enter the title directly in the find a journal search box. Alternatively, you can match the abstract of your article to a journal.

Open access options

Open access lies at the core of Elsevier’s publishing mission – in fact, today, almost all of our journals offer open access options. That means finding the right open access home for your research is easy.

Whatever route you choose, publishing with Elsevier means your work benefits from the input of expert editors and reviewers. And if you publish gold open access, it is immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download from ScienceDirect. Our gold OA titles also feature in major indexes and databases.

Browsing: Chemistry

SciTechDaily features the latest chemistry news and recent research articles from leading universities and institutes from around the world. Here, we delve into the ever-evolving realm of molecules, elements, and reactions, bringing you up-to-date insights from renowned scientists and researchers.

Read interesting chemistry news and breakthrough research on related topics like Biochemistry , Chemical Engineering , Materials Science , Nanoparticles , and Polymers .

Our comprehensive coverage spans the spectrum of chemistry, from organic and inorganic chemistry to biochemistry, analytical chemistry, and beyond. Stay informed about groundbreaking advancements, innovative techniques, and novel applications shaping the future of chemistry and its impact on our everyday lives. Discover, learn, and fuel your passion for chemistry with SciTechDaily.

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Undergraduate Research in Chemistry Guide

Research is the pursuit of new knowledge through the process of discovery. Scientific research involves diligent inquiry and systematic observation of phenomena. Most scientific research projects involve experimentation, often requiring testing the effect of changing conditions on the results. The conditions under which specific observations are made must be carefully controlled, and records must be meticulously maintained. This ensures that observations and results can be are reproduced. Scientific research can be basic (fundamental) or applied. What is the difference? The National Science Foundation uses the following definitions in its resource surveys:

• Basic research The objective of basic research is to gain more comprehensive knowledge or understanding of the subject under study, without specific applications in mind. In industry, basic research is defined as research that advances scientific knowledge but does not have specific immediate commercial objectives, although it may be in fields of present or potential commercial interest.
• Applied research Applied research is aimed at gaining knowledge or understanding to determine the means by which a specific, recognized need may be met. In industry, applied research includes investigations oriented to discovering new scientific knowledge that has specific commercial objectives with respect to products, processes, or services.

Planning for Graduate School

Get on the path to graduate school with our comprehensive guide to selecting an institution and preparing for graduate studies.

What is research at the undergraduate level?

At the undergraduate level, research is self-directed work under the guidance and supervision of a mentor/advisor ― usually a university professor. A gradual transition towards independence is encouraged as a student gains confidence and is able to work with minor supervision. Students normally participate in an ongoing research project and investigate phenomena of interest to them and their advisor. In the chemical sciences, the range of research areas is quite broad. A few groups maintain their research area within a single classical field of analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, chemical education or theoretical chemistry. More commonly, research groups today are interdisciplinary, crossing boundaries across fields and across other disciplines, such as physics, biology, materials science, engineering and medicine.

What are the benefits of being involved in undergraduate research?

There are many benefits to undergraduate research, but the most important are:

• Learning, learning, learning. Most chemists learn by working in a laboratory setting. Information learned in the classroom is more clearly understood and it is more easily remembered once it has been put into practice. This knowledge expands through experience and further reading. From the learning standpoint, research is an extremely productive cycle.
• Experiencing chemistry in a real world setting. The equipment, instrumentation and materials used in research labs are generally more sophisticated, advanced, and of far better quality than those used in lab courses
• Getting the excitement of discovery. If science is truly your vocation, regardless of any negative results, the moment of discovery will be truly exhilarating. Your results are exclusive. No one has ever seen them before.
• Preparing for graduate school. A graduate degree in a chemistry-related science is mostly a research degree. Undergraduate research will not only give you an excellent foundation, but working alongside graduate students and post-doctorates will provide you with a unique opportunity to learn what it will be like.

Is undergraduate research required for graduation?

Many chemistry programs now require undergraduate research for graduation. There are plenty of opportunities for undergraduate students to get involved in research, either during the academic year, summer, or both. If your home institution is not research intensive, you may find opportunities at other institutions, government labs, and industries.

What will I learn by participating in an undergraduate research program?

Conducting a research project involves a series of steps that start at the inquiry level and end in a report. In the process, you learn to:

• Conduct scientific literature searches
• Read, interpret and extract information from journal articles relevant to the project
• Design experimental procedures to obtain data and/or products of interest
• Operate instruments and implement laboratory techniques not usually available in laboratories associated with course work
• Interpret results, reach conclusions, and generate new ideas based on results
• Interact professionally (and socially) with students and professors within the research group, department and school as well as others from different schools, countries, cultures and backgrounds
• Communicate results orally and in writing to other peers, mentors, faculty advisors, and members of the scientific community at large via the following informal group meeting presentations, reports to mentor/advisor, poster presentations at college-wide, regional, national or international meetings; formal oral presentations at scientific meetings; or journal articles prepared for publication

When should I get involved in undergraduate research?

Chemistry is an experimental science. We recommended that you get involved in research as early in your college life as possible. Ample undergraduate research experience gives you an edge in the eyes of potential employers and graduate programs.

While most mentors prefer to accept students in their research labs once they have developed some basic lab skills through general and organic lab courses, some institutions have programs that involve students in research projects the summer prior to their freshman year. Others even involve senior high school students in summer research programs. Ask your academic/departmental advisor about the options available to you.

How much time should I allocate to research?

The quick answer is as much as possible without jeopardizing your course work. The rule of thumb is to spend 3 to 4 hours working in the lab for every credit hour in which you enroll. However, depending on the project, some progress can be achieved in just 3-4 hours of research/week. Most advisors would recommend 8-10 hours/week.

Depending on your project, a few of those hours may be of intense work and the rest may be spent simply monitoring the progress of a reaction or an instrumental analysis. Many research groups work on weekends. Saturdays are excellent days for long, uninterrupted periods of lab work.

How do I select an advisor?

This is probably the most important step in getting involved in undergraduate research. The best approach is multifaceted. Get informed about research areas and projects available in your department, which are usually posted on your departmental website under each professor’s name.

Talk to other students who are already involved in research. If your school has an ACS Student Chapter , make a point to talk to the chapter’s members. Ask your current chemistry professor and lab instructor for advice. They can usually guide you in the right direction. If a particular research area catches your interest, make an appointment with the corresponding professor.

Let the professor know that you are considering getting involved in research, you have read a bit about her/his research program, and that you would like to find out more. Professors understand that students are not experts in the field, and they will explain their research at a level that you will be able to follow. Here are some recommended questions to ask when you meet with this advisor:

• Is there a project(s) within her/his research program suitable for an undergraduate student?
• Does she/he have a position/space in the lab for you?
• If you were to work in her/his lab, would you be supervised directly by her/him or by a graduate student? If it is a graduate student, make a point of meeting with the student and other members of the research group. Determine if their schedule matches yours. A night owl may not be able to work effectively with a morning person.
• Does she/he have funding to support the project? Unfunded projects may indicate that there may not be enough resources in the lab to carry out the project to completion. It may also be an indication that funding agencies/peers do not consider this work sufficiently important enough for funding support. Of course there are exceptions. For example, a newly hired assistant professor may not have external funding yet, but he/she may have received “start-up funds” from the university and certainly has the vote of confidence of the rest of the faculty. Otherwise he/she would not have been hired. Another classical exception is computational chemistry research, for which mostly fast computers are necessary and therefore external funding is needed to support research assistants and computer equipment only. No chemicals, glassware, or instrumentation will be found in a computational chemistry lab.
• How many of his/her articles got published in the last two or three years? When prior work has been published, it is a good indicator that the research is considered worthwhile by the scientific community that reviews articles for publication. Ask for printed references. Number of publications in reputable refereed journals (for example ACS journals) is an excellent indicator of the reputation of the researcher and the quality of his/her work.

Here is one last piece of advice: If the project really excites you and you get satisfactory answers to all your questions, make sure that you and the advisor will get along and that you will enjoy working with him/her and other members of the research group.

Remember that this advisor may be writing recommendation letters on your behalf to future employers, graduate schools, etc., so you want to leave a good impression. To do this, you should understand that the research must move forward and that if you become part of a research team, you should do your best to achieve this goal. At the same time, your advisor should understand your obligations to your course work and provide you with a degree of flexibility.

Ultimately, it is your responsibility to do your best on both course work and research. Make sure that the advisor is committed to supervising you as much as you are committed to doing the required work and putting in the necessary/agreed upon hours.

What are some potential challenges?

• Time management . Each project is unique, and it will be up to you and your supervisor to decide when to be in the lab and how to best utilize the time available to move the project forward.
• Different approaches and styles . Not everyone is as clean and respectful of the equipment of others as you are. Not everyone is as punctual as you are. Not everyone follows safety procedures as diligently as you do. Some groups have established protocols for keeping the lab and equipment clean, for borrowing equipment from other members, for handling common equipment, for research meetings, for specific safety procedures, etc. Part of learning to work in a team is to avoid unnecessary conflict while establishing your ground to doing your work efficiently.
• “The project does not work.” This is a statement that advisors commonly hear from students. Although projects are generally very well conceived, and it is people that make projects work, the nature of research is such that it requires patience, perseverance, critical thinking, and on many occasions, a change in direction. Thoroughness, attention to detail, and comprehensive notes are crucial when reporting the progress of a project.

Be informed, attentive, analytical, and objective. Read all the background information. Read user manuals for instruments and equipment. In many instances the reason for failure may be related to dirty equipment, contaminated reagents, improperly set instruments, poorly chosen conditions, lack of thoroughness, and/or lack of resourcefulness. Repeating a procedure while changing one parameter may work sometimes, while repeating the procedure multiple times without systematic changes and observations probably will not.

When reporting failures or problems, make sure that you have all details at hand. Be thorough in you assessment. Then ask questions. Advisors usually have sufficient experience to detect errors in procedures and are able to lead you in the right direction when the student is able to provide all the necessary details. They also have enough experience to know when to change directions. Many times one result may be unexpected, but it may be interesting enough to lead the investigation into a totally different avenue. Communicate with your advisor/mentor often.

Are there places other than my institution where I can conduct research?

Absolutely! Your school may be close to other universities, government labs and/or industries that offer part-time research opportunities during the academic year. There may also be summer opportunities in these institutions as well as in REU sites (see next question).

Contact your chemistry department advisor first. He/she may have some information readily available for you. You can also contact nearby universities, local industries and government labs directly or through the career center at your school. You can also find listings through ACS resources:

• Research Opportunities (US only)
• International Research Opportunities
• Internships and Summer Jobs

What are Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites? When should I apply for a position in one of them?

REU is a program established by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support active research participation by undergraduate students at host institutions in the United States or abroad. An REU site may offer projects within a single department/discipline or it may have projects that are inter-departmental and interdisciplinary. There are currently over 70 domestic and approximately 5 international REU sites with a chemistry theme. Sites consist of 10-12 students each, although there are larger sites that supplement NSF funding with other sources. Students receive stipends and, in most cases, assistance with housing and travel.

Most REU sites invite rising juniors and rising seniors to participate in research during the summer. Experience in research is not required to apply, except for international sites where at least one semester or summer of prior research experience is recommended. Applications usually open around November or December for participation during the following summer. Undergraduate students supported with NSF funds must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions. Some REU sites with supplementary funds from other sources may accept international students that are enrolled at US institutions.

• Get more information about REU sites

How do I prepare a scientific research poster?

Here are some links to sites with very useful information and samples.

• How to Prepare a Proper Scientific Paper or Poster
• Creating Effective Poster Presentations
• Designing Effective Poster Presentations

Research and Internship Opportunities

• Internships and Fellowships Find internships, fellowships, and cooperative education opportunities.
• SCI Scholars Internship Program Industrial internships for chemistry and chemical engineering undergraduates.
• ACS International Center Fellowships, scholarships, and research opportunities around the globe

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Will open science change chemistry?

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While more researchers are adopting open access, open data, open peer review and open projects, some significant barriers are hindering progress

Twenty years ago the debate surrounding open science focused on access to journals. By 2020 around 25% of all chemistry papers published were open access, and now most of the major publishers of chemistry journals offer some version of open access. But more researchers are starting to realise that other elements of open science are ripe for development. There is a tantalising future where chemists share their data in ways that allow easy reuse, awakening a new era of innovation.

One of the biggest culprits slowing this down is the humble pdf file, often the format for supplementary data submitted to journals. ‘Google and all those internet indexes have trouble reading pdfs and understanding what’s in them,’ says chemist Simon Coles from the University of Southampton. ‘Discoverability of data is really hampered by the fact that this is the way we operate.’ Coles is director of the UK Physical Sciences Data-science Service (PSDS), which is working to create an interconnected lake of data from UK physical science research.

The urgency to do this is in part linked to the recent explosion in machine learning methods. ‘There’s no hope of us even getting out of the starting blocks with all these fancy new technologies if we don’t have the right data to train the algorithms,’ says Coles. ‘We’re like a Porsche with shopping trolley wheels on – we can’t get anywhere because of the foundations on which we’re building.’

Crystallography is one part of chemistry ahead of the game. In the 1990s the community invested time and effort into developing methods to share data. What started with a crystal structure database developed into a common language to describe the data and then an information file format. ‘Towards the end of the 90s, we were actually publishing papers in this cif format … it was very easy to pick up an example from a crystallographic experiment and run simulations that you could then extrapolate into a whole different space,’ says Coles.

We’re like a Porsche with shopping trolley wheels on

The PSDS, a partnership between the University of Southampton and the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council, is now hoping to create the type of architecture that will allow open sharing in all areas of chemistry. For about four years they have been working on an infrastructure to collect, collate and curate – in other words, can the data be found, can it be re-used and can it be analysed? It’s an enormous task says Coles, because the data chemists use is so diverse: ‘It can be everything from biological systems to materials and all in between.’ There has been progress in the fundamentals of assigning chemical structure data, but it’s still early days: ‘The ability to unify this sort of disparate data is still a long way out. 

Similar initiatives are going on in Germany’s chemistry community through NFDI4Chem , one of 30 government funded consortia to open up data. In 2020, chemist Johannes Liermann from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz joined a team that is setting up several data repositories and has been tasked to come up with standards for metadata as part of a five-year project, working with international organisations including the PSDS.

One of the distinctions that Liermann makes is the type of openness they are looking to promote, which they describe as FAIR – findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. ‘It’s important, [as] this is often a concern in chemistry, to distinguish between open and FAIR data,’ says Liermann. FAIR data allows constraints on access; for example, due to a patent application. But the overarching principle of FAIR data is that there should be a record that it exists and it is machine readable.

NFDI4Chem has started with a focus on molecule related data. The harder task is encouraging cultural change through the adoption of electronic lab notebooks, which will ultimately provide a smooth journey from data collection and documentation in the lab to publication and open sharing.

New ways of working, new discoveries

Open science is more than just a way to share data – it’s also a fundamentally different and more collaborative way of doing science that could speed up progress. Medicinal chemist Matthew Todd from University College London School of Pharmacy in the UK has been experimenting with open drug discovery since the mid 2000s. He was looking for a cheap method to separate the enantiomers present in the drug praziquantel, which is commonly used in Africa to treat the parasitic infection bilharzia. The unwanted enantiomer in the current drug makes the tablet large and extremely bitter.

‘We set up a lab book online in collaboration with the University of Southampton, we got a bit of money for a research grant, and we started to post our experiments every day online,’ says Todd. They quickly developed a community of chemists willing to provide input, including many from industry, and found a cost-effective resolving agent . ‘A key thing about these open projects is that you can change what you’re doing as you’re doing it, with advice from the community, rather than waiting until the end and failing,’ says Todd, who expects distribution of a paediatric formulation of the single enantiomer drug to start soon.

Since then, Todd says, ‘everything we do is open,’ including the Open Source Malaria project that has produced publications featuring more than 50 authors . His collaborative open working approach now needs to be matched with open data. He points to the global Protein Data Bank that since 1971 has served as the single open repository of information about the 3D structures of proteins, nucleic acids and complex assemblies. This ultimately led to AlphaFold, the AI system developed by Google DeepMind that can now accurately predict 3D protein structure from its amino acid sequence. ‘We want to do the same thing for hit finding for new targets,’ says Todd. ‘That will only work if [the data is] open.’

This is in the pipeline with initiatives such as the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) , a global public-private partnership that intends to openly publish small molecule screening data for thousands of human proteins. Drugs have already been inspired and developed by the private sector from such probes made available by the SGC. ‘That’s a great example of how people need to relax a little bit about sharing stuff, because it can still lead to great projects in the private sector that can help people, even if there’s no IP,’ says Todd.

Under review

One aspect of science that remains stubbornly closed is peer review, with most journals still opting for private and anonymous reviews. Ken Carslaw at the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science at the University of Leeds, UK, co-founded the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics in 2001, which pioneered a model of transparent peer review where papers submitted are published as preprints alongside reviews and author responses and remain there even if not accepted for publication.

With an open approach, ‘people are more civil when they’re writing their reviews, they also tend to be more thorough, because they know it will be public and not just for the editor’s eyes, even if it’s not attributed,’ says Carslaw (most reviewers still prefer to stay anonymous). He also thinks it improves the quality of submissions because people know they will immediately be public.

Carslaw would like to see more journals being open: ‘It’s good for public confidence in science that we’re not hiding things, [it] prevents scientific fraud, [it] prevents all manner of things.’ But he doesn’t see much interest in the model in chemistry, which he suggests may be linked to the dominance of large publishers. But the discipline has also generally been slower than others in opening up, with the chemistry preprint server ChemRxiv launching 26 years after physics’ equivalent arXiv, for example.

The situation is similar with data. ‘In some disciplines, the access to underlying data has got a lot better, or the culture has changed, says Coles. ‘In chemistry that hasn’t changed massively.’ Todd also sees chemistry lagging behind disciplines such as genomics. He suggests this may be because chemists create novel molecules, which engenders a greater sense of ownership.

One big problem is the lack of incentives to work in an open way. ‘People are nervous they will get scooped if they share everything,’ says Todd. But open lab books overcome this concern ‘because everything is time stamped and it’s very clear who’s done what and when’. There is also little recognition or reward for the time and effort it takes to work in a more open way – it is unlikely to get you a promotion or grant funding. Moving forward, Cole thinks there needs to be a data citation system where the originator of any data re-used in a follow-on study gets some credit.

Can science really be considered open if it doesn’t address the needs of the whole world?

Intellectual property is another barrier that Sabina Leonelli from the University of Exeter, UK, says is a particular issue in chemistry. Leonelli is a philosopher of science who studies open science and transformations in research systems. She thinks industry involvement keeps a lot of data out of the public domain: ‘This research is not even findable according to the FAIR principles.’ Plus, Leonelli says, ‘what we’re seeing in a lot of private companies is actually tightening up of trademarking and intellectual property around data, because people are now so aware that it is a very valuable asset.’

In academia at least, there is a push for culture change but Todd says the process is still ‘difficult and slow’. Leirmann thinks the key is convincing colleagues that they are the ones who will benefit from a more open system – for example allowing them to keep better track of data created within their own research groups, rather than it being hidden in a shelf full of theses.

Leonelli is also interested in how science can be more open and inclusive globally. Current open data initiatives still don’t allow those without large resources to participate and she has seen the discrepancies first hand in her interactions with crop researchers in Ghana. ‘In many places in the world, there are structural issues with accessing broadband, with accessing the kind of computing facilities and expertise that allow you to take advantage of some of these tools.’ This often adds to the problem of research agendas skewed to the interests of richer countries, with globally important areas like agriculture receiving little attention. Can science really be considered open if it doesn’t address the needs of the whole world?

For Coles there is a future, not too far away, where open science has revolutionised the way chemists work. He envisions chemists using shared data and machine learning tools to test hypotheses and only then resort to the laboratory to confirm the results – a laboratory that may itself be fully robotic. ‘If we get it right with respect to pooling and managing and indexing our data, then we’re not that far away from that goal,’ he says.

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Development and Evaluation of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) Filter Paper Substrates Coated with Antibacterial Silver Nanoparticles for the Identification of Trace Escherichia coli

• Original Article
• Published: 03 September 2024

Cite this article

• Safaa Mustafa Hameed 1 ,
• Naeema Hadi Ali 2 ,
• Akram Rostaminia 3 ,
• Sattar H. Abed 4 ,
• Hossein Khojasteh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7483-3396 5 ,
• Shaymaa Awad Kadhim 6 ,
• Peyman Aspoukeh 5 &
• Vahid Eskandari 7  

In this work, a sensitive and reasonably priced surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-based biosensor is developed for the quick identification of Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), a key marker of fecal contamination in food and water. A filter paper (FP) substrate coated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which were produced by a straightforward chemical reduction method, was used for developing the biosensor. After the AgNPs were carefully examined, it was discovered that they produced active plasmonic sites on the FP substrate, which made it possible to detect the molecular vibrations of E. coli . The remarkable sensitivity of the SERS-based FP-AgNP biosensor was shown by its ability to detect very low concentrations of E. coli , as low as 10 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL. The AgNPs also shown antimicrobial properties. The substrates’ repeatability was verified by experimental Raman measurements, and the enhancement factor for identifying the molecular vibrations of E. coli was determined to be 2.197 × 10 5 based on empirical calculations and 4.587 × 10 5 based on numerical estimations. These findings demonstrate how well the proposed SERS-based biosensor works for the quick and accurate detection of E. coli , which is essential for guaranteeing the safety of food and water. The results of the research open the door to the development of sophisticated SERS-based monitoring and detection systems with the additional benefits of being inexpensive, straightforward, adaptable, and chemically stable for a range of uses in environmental protection and public health.

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Data Availability

The data related to the analyses are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We extend our sincere appreciation to Mr. Hossein Sahbafar (ORCID: 0009-0003-7806-9550) for his expertise in conducting the FDTD simulation, enriching the academic value of our research.

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Department of Optics, College of Health and Medical Technology, Sawa University, Almuthana, Iraq

Safaa Mustafa Hameed

Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Kufa, Najaf, Iraq

Naeema Hadi Ali

Department of Medical Biochemical Analysis, Cihan University-Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Akram Rostaminia

College of Education for Pure Sciences, University of Al-Muthanna, Samawah, Iraq

Sattar H. Abed

Scientific Research Center, Soran University, Soran, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Hossein Khojasteh & Peyman Aspoukeh

Physics Department, Faculty of Science, University of Kufa, Najaf, Iraq

Shaymaa Awad Kadhim

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research Center, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran

Vahid Eskandari

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S.M.H., N.H.A., and K.H.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing; S.H.A.: Visualization; S.H.A., H.K., and S.A.K: Resources, Writing - Review & Editing; V.E. and K.H.: Supervision, Project administration, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing.

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Correspondence to Hossein Khojasteh or Vahid Eskandari .

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Hameed, S.M., Ali, N.H., Rostaminia, A. et al. Development and Evaluation of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) Filter Paper Substrates Coated with Antibacterial Silver Nanoparticles for the Identification of Trace Escherichia coli . Chemistry Africa (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42250-024-01064-4

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Dr. Chen is currently the interim executive associate dean and visiting professor at the iSchool. Before joining UIUC in August 2024, she was Regents professor and the chair of the Department of Information Science in the College of Information at the University of North Texas (UNT). She conducts interdisciplinary research, spanning information science, data science, and health informatics. She is the founder of UNT's Intelligent Information Access (IIA) Lab, which explores methods for access, interaction, and analysis of large, distributed, heterogeneous, multimedia, and multilingual information. 

Her professional contributions include authoring numerous publications, including a monograph on multilingual digital libraries,  journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings as well as giving invited presentations and talks. She served as the editor-in-chief for The Electronic Library for seven years and as chair of the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL) in 2018. Dr. Chen holds a PhD in information transfer from Syracuse University, a master's degree in information science from the Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a bachelor's degree in information science from Wuhan University.

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• Guangzheng Xu 1 , 2 ,
• Youqing Shen   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1837-7976 4 ,
• John. B. Buse   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9723-3876 5 ,
• Jinqiang Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0048-838X 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 &
• Zhen Gu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2947-4456 1 , 2 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11  

Nature Nanotechnology ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Contrary to current insulin formulations, endogenous insulin has direct access to the portal vein, regulating glucose metabolism in the liver with minimal hypoglycaemia. Here we report the synthesis of an amphiphilic diblock copolymer comprising a glucose-responsive positively charged segment and polycarboxybetaine. The mixing of this polymer with insulin facilitates the formation of worm-like micelles, achieving highly efficient absorption by the gastrointestinal tract and the creation of a glucose-responsive reservoir in the liver. Under hyperglycaemic conditions, the polymer triggers a rapid release of insulin, establishing a portal-to-peripheral insulin gradient—similarly to endogenous insulin—for the safe regulation of blood glucose. This insulin formulation exhibits a dose-dependent blood-glucose-regulating effect in a streptozotocin-induced mouse model of type 1 diabetes and controls the blood glucose at normoglycaemia for one day in non-obese diabetic mice. In addition, the formulation demonstrates a blood-glucose-lowering effect for one day in a pig model of type 1 diabetes without observable hypoglycaemia, showing promise for the safe and effective management of type 1 diabetes.

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The data that support the results of this study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFE0202200, J.W.), JDRF (2-SRA-2021-1064-M-B, Z.G.; 2-SRA-2022-1159-M-B, J.W.), the Key Project of Science and Technology Commission of Zhejiang Province (2024C03083, Z.G.; 2024C03085, J.W.), Zhejiang University’s start-up packages and the Starry Night Science Fund at Shanghai institute for Advanced Study of Zhejiang University (SN-ZJU-SIAS-009, J.W.). A.R.K. is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health (KL2TR002490, J.W.). The project was supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Award program of the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, National Institutes of Health (UL1TR002489, J.W.). We appreciate the help from J. Pan and D. Wu of the Research and Service Center (College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University) for technical support, G. Z. and Y. Zhang (Cryo-EM centre, Zhejiang University) for processing the samples for electron microscopy and D. Xu, M. Zhang, S. Xiong and D. Chen (Disease Simulation and Animal Model Platform of Liangzhu Laboratory) for taking care of the minipigs.

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State Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Kangfan Ji, Xiangqian Wei, Juan Zhang, Yang Zhang, Jianchang Xu, Xinwei Wei, Wei Liu, Yanfang Wang, Yuejun Yao, Xuehui Huang, Shaoqian Mei, Yun Liu, Shiqi Wang, Zhengjie Zhao, Ziyi Lu, Jiahuan You, Guangzheng Xu, Jinqiang Wang & Zhen Gu

Jinhua Institute of Zhejiang University, Jinhua, China

Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Anna R. Kahkoska

Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Smart Biomaterials, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Youqing Shen

Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

John. B. Buse

Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery Systems of Zhejiang Province, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Jinqiang Wang & Zhen Gu

Department of Pharmacy, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Jinqiang Wang

Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Liangzhu Laboratory, Hangzhou, China

Institute of Fundamental and Transdisciplinary Research, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

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Contributions

Z.G., J.W., Y.S. and J.B.B. conceived and designed the study. K.J., Xiangqian Wei, J.Z., J.X., Xinwei Wei, Y.Z., W.L., Y.W., Y.Y., S.M. and Y.L. conducted experiments and obtained related data. X.H., S.W., Z.Z., J.Y., G.X. and Z.L. gave experimental operation and theoretical guidance of mice experiments. K.J., Xiangqian Wei, J.Z. and J.X. conducted minipigs experiments and provided theoretical support. Z.G., J.W., Y.S., K.J., J.Z., Xiangqian Wei, A.R.K., J.B.B. and J.X. analysed the data and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Jinqiang Wang or Zhen Gu .

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Z.G. is the co-founder of Zenomics Inc., Zcapsule Inc. and μ Zen Inc. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Nanotechnology thanks Kåre Birkeland and Nicholas Hunt for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Extended data

Extended data fig. 1 bg-regulating effects in diabetic minipigs..

BG of diabetic minipigs treated with the insulin capsules (oral), the PPF-ins capsules (oral) or Lantus (s.c.). The insulin dose of oral formulations was set to 4.2 U/kg. The Lantus dose was set to 0.3 U/kg.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–24.

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Source Data Fig. 5

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Source Data Fig. 6

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Source Data Extended Data Fig. 1

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Ji, K., Wei, X., Kahkoska, A.R. et al. An orally administered glucose-responsive polymeric complex for high-efficiency and safe delivery of insulin in mice and pigs. Nat. Nanotechnol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-024-01764-5

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Received : 12 August 2023

Accepted : 19 July 2024

Published : 02 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-024-01764-5

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