Raman Confocal Spectrometer

• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry
• Term: Funded in 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 509895886

The confocal Raman Spectrometer applied for here will play a central role in experimental investigations of Bio-Spectro-Electrochemistry group, which was recently set up at the Institute for Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Bonn. The planned research work is divided into two overarching directions: I) operando studies of redox biocatalytic metalloproteins that catalyze key reactions in nature and can be harnessed for the development of new and sustainable biohybrid electroactive interfaces, II) mechanistic studies of complex trajectories during the structural organization of protein-nucleic acid and nucleic acid-nucleic acid complexes. This confocal Raman Spectrometer will be used to the detect Raman scattering in Resonance Raman (RR) and Surface Enhanced Resonance Raman (SERR) mode. These enhancement modes will ensure the selective detection of various chromophores within complex biological systems through the targeted choice of laser wavelength, and transfer of this selectivity to individual layers applied to electrodes. The latter allows the coupling to electrochemical methods in order to monitor e.g. the redox activity of such systems in situ enabling structure-function analysis of redox-active molecules. In order to be able to use the selectivity through the RR effect as well as the sensitivity through the surface amplification by means of SERR in the most efficient way, this spectrometer is equipped with 5 laser sources that emit monochromatic light at 266 nm, 405 nm, 488 nm, 532 nm and 591 nm, and two detectors with high quantum efficiency in the UV and VIS range. The UV source is essential to selectively probe aromatic amino acid residues or nucleotides, while the VIS sources target different metal-containing active sites. SERR in combination with electrochemistry will provide a new operando-spectroelectrochemical technique to the Chemistry Department of the University of Bonn that will be used for research goals in other working groups in collaboration.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Konfokales Ramanspektrometer
• Instrumentation Group: 1840 Raman-Spektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
• Leader: Dr. Patrycja Kielb