Research on the Characterization of Heterogeneous Catalysts and Reactions Based on Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Surface analysis techniques play a crucial role in elucidating heterogeneous catalytic reactions. Among these, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) stands out due to its exceptional surface detection sensitivity and its unique ability to provide molecular fingerprints. However, the limitations of SERS technology, particularly its poor material and morphological universality, significantly impede its development. This paper summarizes a series of innovative SERS strategies developed by our group for the study of heterogeneous catalysts and reactions, such as the core-shell nanostructure “borrowing” strategy and the SHINERS-satellite strategy. These methods successfully overcome the limitations of traditional SERS, thereby paving new pathways for the in situ characterization of catalysts and reactions using SERS technology in practical applications. By employing these strategies, we not only conducted in-depth investigations into a series of key reactions, such as the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), but also successfully obtained direct spectroscopic evidence of critical intermediate species. Moreover, in combination with density functional theory (DFT) calculations and other advanced analytical techniques, we analyzed the mechanisms and structure–activity relationships of these catalytic reactions at the molecular level. Lastly, this paper provides a prospective outlook on the future development trends of SERS technology in the field of heterogeneous catalysis.