Quantitative analysis of methylene blue (MB) has been performed with Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering, SERS, using citrate reduced silver colloid activated with NaCl. In this study, the combination of SERS occurring at the proximity of the plasmon surface and of resonance Raman with excitation wavelength matched to the maximum absorbance of the molecule being analyzed, was successfully applied to maximize the Raman scattering intensity. The surface‐enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) spectra of aqueous solutions of the dye at various concentrations were collected in right‐angle scattering geometry configuration which results favorable when nanocolloidal dispersions are used. The MB concentration was correlated with the intensity of the peak centered at 1,625 cm−1 in the SERRS spectrum and this correlation resulted in an extremely sensitive quantitative investigation of the MB with limit of detection in pM level. Among others, this method can be easily applied for the examination of both the selectivity of waste water purification membranes for relevant small molecular weight contaminants or/and the solar photocatalytic effectiveness of such membranes for the degradation of pertinent pollutants by their quantitative assessment in the permeate at very low concentration range.

Poly(9,9‐dihexylfluorene‐2,7‐vinylene‐alt‐dibenzothiophene‐2,8‐vinylene) (PS) and poly(9,9‐dihexylfluorene‐2,7‐vinylene‐alt‐dibenzothiophene‐5,5‐dioxide‐2,8‐ vinylene) (PSO) as well as corresponding model compounds were synthesized by Heck coupling. Both the polymers and model compounds were readily soluble in common organic solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane, chloroform, and toluene. The polymers showed a decomposition temperature at ∼430 °C and a char yield of about 65% at 800 °C in N2. The glass‐transition temperatures of the polymers were almost identical (75–77 °C) and higher than those of the model compounds (26–45 °C). All samples absorbed around 390 nm, and their optical band gaps were 2.69–2.85 eV. They behaved as blue‐greenish light emitting materials in both solutions and thin films, with photoluminescence emission maxima at 450–483 nm and photoluminescence quantum yields of 0.52–0.72 in solution. Organic light‐emitting diodes with an indium tin oxide/poly(ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonic acid)/polymer/Mg:Ag/Ag configuration with polymers PS and PSO as emitting layers showed green electroluminescence with maxima at 530 and 540 nm, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 6790–6800, 2006

The surface enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy (SERS) is introduced as a new method to probe the initial release of active agents from controlled delivery systems. As a model system, mitoxantrone‐loaded polypropylene specimens immersed in water have been utilized. Surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) measurements allowed the quantitative delineation of the initial drug release profile. SERRS was also compared in early stage release processes with UV–vis absorption often used in traditional quantitative analysis via HPLC, a common technique for controlled release evaluation. More and above the high selectivity of the Raman Effect, SERS has been proved as a highly sensitive method to quantitatively monitor the initial release of the medicine even at the very early stage of the delivery process; UV–vis absorbance was unable to respond accordingly. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.