{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,18]],"date-time":"2026-01-18T07:17:03Z","timestamp":1768720623050,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,27]],"date-time":"2021-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637971200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper reports on the fabrication and characterization of a plasmonic\/sol-gel sensor for the detection of aromatic molecules. The sol-gel film was engineered using polysilsesquioxanes groups to capture the analyte, through \u03c0-\u03c0 interaction, and to concentrate it close to the plasmonic surface, where Raman amplification occurs. Xylene was chosen as an analyte to test the sensor. It belongs to the general class of volatile organic compounds and can be found in water or in the atmosphere as pollutants released from a variety of processes; its detection with SERS is typically challenging, due to its low affinity toward metallic surfaces. The identification of xylene was verified in comparison with that of other aromatic molecules, such as benzene and toluene. Investigations were carried out on solutions of xylene in cyclohexane, using concentrations in the range from 0 to 800 mM, to evaluate the limit of detection (LOD) of about 40 mM.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s21237912","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,1]],"date-time":"2021-12-01T01:45:02Z","timestamp":1638323102000},"page":"7912","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Hybrid Sol-Gel Surface-Enhanced Raman Sensor for Xylene Detection in Solution"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Verena","family":"Weber","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Science, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 1, I-35131 Padova, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6703-3921","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Brigo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 9, I-35131 Padova, Italy"}]},{"given":"Giovanna","family":"Brusatin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 9, I-35131 Padova, Italy"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Mattei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Astronomy \u201cGalileo Galilei\u201d, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 8, I-35131 Padova, Italy"}]},{"given":"Danilo","family":"Pedron","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Science, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 1, I-35131 Padova, Italy"},{"name":"Consorzio INSTM, Via G. Giusti 12, I-50121 Firenze, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6263-420X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberto","family":"Pilot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Science, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 1, I-35131 Padova, Italy"},{"name":"Consorzio INSTM, Via G. Giusti 12, I-50121 Firenze, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9965-2823","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raffaella","family":"Signorini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Science, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 1, I-35131 Padova, Italy"},{"name":"Consorzio INSTM, Via G. Giusti 12, I-50121 Firenze, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"28","DOI":"10.1021\/acsnano.9b04224","article-title":"Present and future of surface-enhanced Raman scattering","volume":"14","author":"Langer","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pilot, R., Signorini, R., Durante, C., Orian, L., Bhamidipati, M., and Fabris, L. (2019). A review on surface-enhanced raman scattering. Biosensors, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/bios9020057"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aca.2015.04.010","article-title":"Explosive and chemical threat detection by surface-enhanced Raman scattering: A review","volume":"893","author":"Hakonen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Anal. Chim. 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