ONE-BLUE research showcased at FEMS EUROMAT 2025 in Granada

ONE-BLUE research showcased at FEMS EUROMAT 2025 in Granada

  • INL presents a highlight oral contribution on SERS-on-a-chip technology for antibiotic and pathogen monitoring
  • ONE-BLUE also featured through a scientific poster on microdroplet- based antibiotic detection in seawater

Researchers from the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), partner of the Horizon Europe project ONE-BLUE, presented key advances in antibiotic detection and environmental monitoring at the 18th FEMS EUROMAT Congress, held from 14 to 18 September 2025 in Granada, Spain. The congress, Europe’s largest event in materials science and technology, gathered more than 1,800 participants and over 1,000 oral presentations across multiple thematic areas.

One of the central contributions from INL to EUROMAT 2025 was a highlight oral presentation entitled “SERS-on-a-chip as an excellent tool for the One Health approach of AMR monitoring.” The talk, prepared by Dr. Laura Rodríguez-Lorenzo, was delivered by INL researcher Dr. Bernardo A. Nogueira and focused on the application of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) integrated into microfluidic lab-on-a-chip devices. This technology enables highly sensitive SERS detection of antibiotics and pathogens in nanolitre volumes, supporting the One Health approach to combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The presentation highlighted the relevance of this platform for ONE-BLUE, where INL is developing an autonomous sensor for real-time detection of antibiotics in marine environments, contributing to the evaluation of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in ocean waters.

Alongside the oral session, ONE-BLUE was also represented through the scientific poster “Integrated SERS-based microdroplet platform for antibiotics detection in water”, presented by Bruna Alves (INL). The work introduced a hybrid microdroplet-SERS platform capable of detecting antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin, in seawater with high sensitivity. The study described the fabrication of stable PEGylated hybrid organic-plasmonic nanocomposites encapsulated in microdroplets, enabling fast, automated and multiplexed SERS-based detection in nanolitre volumes using a very compact Raman system.

This technological development is directly aligned with ONE-BLUE’s goal of implementing advanced analytical tools for monitoring marine pollution and assessing the impact of CECs on biodiversity under changing environmental conditions.

INL’s participation in EUROMAT 2025 underscores the project’s contribution to innovative sensing technologies, bridging materials science with marine environmental protection. By combining SERS, microfluidics, and novel analytical frameworks, ONE-BLUE continues advancing towards a comprehensive understanding of emerging contaminants across European marine regions and supporting evidence-based ocean sustainability.