PD Dr. Naresh Kumar
PD Dr. Naresh Kumar
Privatdozent/in at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences
ETH Zürich
Additional information
Research area
PD Dr. Naresh Kumar's research focuses on the development and applications of optical nanospectroscopy and nanoimaging. Specifically, he develops AFM- and STM-based plasmon-enhanced optical spectroscopies - including Raman, fluorescence, and photoluminescence - to enable hyperspectral molecular and chemical imaging at the nanoscale. Dr. Kumar applies these cutting-edge nanoanalytical tools to a broad spectrum of research areas, including catalytic materials, biomaterials, polymeric systems, photovoltaic materials, and two-dimensional materials such as single-layer graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides. He also explores chemical transformations at crystalline metal surfaces and solid–liquid interfaces at the nanoscale.
Curriculum Vitae
| PD Dr. Naresh Kumar is a Habilitated Lecturer (Privatdozent) in Optical Nanospectroscopy and Nanoimaging at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences (D-CHAB), ETH Zurich, where he has been based since 2020. He earned his Bachelor of Technology in Engineering Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and completed his Master of Research in Physics at the Nanoscale with distinction at King’s College London. He obtained his PhD from Utrecht University, Netherlands, under the supervision of Prof. Bert Weckhuysen, focusing on the development of Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) and its application to heterogeneous catalysis. In 2011, Dr. Kumar joined NPL as a Research Scientist, where he spearheaded the development and application of TERS. He established a state-of-the-art AFM-TERS system at NPL, enabling advanced nanoscale spectroscopic investigations in numerous interdisciplinary research projects. His work spans diverse scientific fields, including heterogeneous catalysis, organic solar cells, polymer blends, nanoscale chemical imaging of solid-liquid interfaces, and 2D materials such as graphene and single-layer MoS2. For his scientific accomplishments, Dr. Kumar received the prestigious Rayleigh Early Career Award from NPL in 2016 and was promoted to Higher Research Scientist in 2017. Dr. Kumar is a frequently invited speaker at international scientific conferences. From 2020 to 2023, in recognition of his expertise he was awarded Visiting Professorship at the School of Sciences, Hangzhou Dianzi University, China. In 2023, he was honored with the esteemed Masao Horiba Award for advancements in optical nanospectroscopy to study novel semiconductor materials. |
Membership
| Since | Membership |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Member of the American Chemical Society, USA |
| 2022 | Member of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), USA |
| 2022 | Member of the Swiss Chemical Society, Switzerland |
| 2017 | Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK |
Honours
| Year | Distinction |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Masao Horiba Award for Advancements in Optical Nanospectroscopy, HORIBA Ltd., Japan |
| 2017 | Chartered Physicist Award, Institute of Physics, London, UK |
| 2016 | Rayleigh Early Career Award, National Physical Laboratory, London, UK |
| 2015 | Best Paper Award, International Conference on Tip-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, Osaka, Japan |
| 2005 | Award of Academic Excellence, University of London, London, UK |
Additional information
Publications
(For full list please see Google Scholar)
Peer Reviewed Research Articles: (*corresponding author)
1. J. M. Laurent, M. Steinacher, A. Kan, M. Ritter, M. Leutert, S. Bienz, D. Häberlin, N. Kumar, A. R. Studart, “Genetic Impacts on the Structure and Mechanics of Cellulose Made by Bacteria”, Advanced Science, 2025, e05075
2. A. Rai, S. Bienz, V. F. Hansen, R. Zenobi*, N. Kumar*, “Nanoscale Structural Insights into Thermochromic VO2 Thin Films Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy”, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2025, 17, 32625–32634
3. Y. Xia, K. Greis, C. Xu, N. Kumar*, R. Zenobi*, “Monitoring the On-Surface Boronic Acid Condensation Process at the Nanoscale Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy”, ACS Nano, 2025, 19, 6511-6519
4. C. Xu, T. Käser, Y. Xia, N. Kumar*, R. Zenobi*, “Probing Deuteration-Induced Phase Separation in Supported Lipid Monolayers using Hyperspectral TERS Imaging”, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2024, 15, 10237-10243
5. X. Liu, B. Erbas, A. Conde-Rubio, N. Rivano, Z. Wang, J. Jiang, S. Bienz, N. Kumar et al., “Deterministic grayscale nanotopography for strained MoS2 FETs”, Nature Communications, 2024, 15, 6934
6. M. Dong, W. Su, N. Kumar, F. Chen, K. Sun, Y. Zeng, H.-W. Lu, “Visualizing Exciton Funneling in the Nanowrinkles of Twisted Bilayer MoS2Using Tip-Enhanced Optical Spectroscopy”, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2024, 128, 11764-11772
7. Y. Pandey, A. Ingold, N. Kumar*, Renato Zenobi*, “Nanoscale Visualization of Phase Separation in Binary Supported Lipid Monolayer using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy”, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 10578-10583
8. K. S. Lee, Z. Landry, A. Athar, U. Alcolombri, P. Pramoj Na Ayutthaya, D. Berry, P. de Bettignies, J.-X. Cheng, G. Csucs, L. Cui, V. Deckert, T. Dieing, J. Dionne, O. Doskocil, G. D’Souza, C. García-Timermans, N. Gierlinger, K. Goda, R. Hatzenpichler, R. J. Henshaw, W. E. Huang, I. Iermak, N. P. Ivleva, J. Kneipp, P. Kubryk, K. Küsel, T. K. Lee, S. S. Lee, B. Ma, C. Martínez-Pérez, P. Matousek, R. U. Meckenstock, W. Min, P. Mojzeš, O. Müller, N. Kumar et al., “MicrobioRaman: an open-access web repository for microbiological Raman spectroscopy data”, Nature Microbiology, 2024, 9, 1152-1156
9. Z.-F. Cai*, Z.-X. Zhang, Y. Zhang, N. Kumar*, Mechanistic Understanding of Oxygen Activation on Bulk Au(111) Surface Using Tip‑Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2024, 63, e202318682
10. S. Bienz, G. Spaggiari, D. Calestani, G. Trevisi, D. Bersani, R. Zenobi*, N. Kumar*, “Nanoscale Chemical Analysis of Thin Film Solar Cell Interfaces using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy”, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2024, 16, 14704-14711
11. D. Mrđenović, B. F. Combes, R. Ni, R. Zenobi*, N. Kumar* “Probing Chemical Complexity of Amyloid Plaques in Alzheimer’s Disease Mice using Hyperspectral Raman Imaging” ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2024, 15, 78-85
12. D. Mrđenović, Z-.X. Tang, Y. Pandey, W. Su, Y. Zhang, N. Kumar*, R. Zenobi* “Regioselective Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Lipid Membranes with Sub-Nanometer Axial Resolution” Nano Letters, 2023, 23, 3939-3946
13. Y. Pandey, D. F. Abbott, V. Mougel, N. Kumar*, R. Zenobi* “Probing the Role of Environmental and Sample Characteristics in Gap Mode Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy” Analytical Chemistry, 2023, 95, 8869-8878
14. K. R. Paton, K. Despotelis, N. Kumar, P. Turner, A. J. Pollard “On the use of Raman spectroscopy to characterize mass-produced graphene nanoplatelets” Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, 2023, 14, 509-521
15. S. Bienz, S. H. van Vreeswijk, Y. Pandey, G. Bartolomeo, B. M. Weckhuysen, R. Zenobi*, N. Kumar* “Probing coke formation during the methanol-to-hydrocarbon reaction on zeolite ZSM-5 catalyst at the nanoscale using tip-enhanced fluorescence microscopy” Catalysis Science & Technology, 2022, 12, 5795-5801
16. Z.-F. Cai, J. P. Merino, W. Fang, N. Kumar*, J. O. Richardson, S. D. Feyter, R. Zenobi* “Molecular-Level Insights on Reactive Arrangement in On-Surface Photocatalytic Coupling Reactions Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy” Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2022, 144, 538−546
17. D. Mrđenović, W. Ge, N. Kumar*, R. Zenobi* “Nanoscale Chemical Imaging of Human Cell Membranes Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2022, 61, e2022102
18. D. Mrđenović, D. Abbott, V. Mougel, W. Su, N. Kumar*, R. Zenobi* “Visualizing Surface Phase Separation in PS-PMMA Polymer Blends at the Nanoscale” ACS Applied Material & Interfaces, 2022, 14, 24938–24945
19. Z.-F. Cai, T. Käser, N. Kumar, R. Zenobi “Visualizing On-Surface Decomposition Chemistry at the Nanoscale Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy” Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2022, 13, 4864–4870
20. J. Shao, F. Chen, W. Su, N. Kumar, Y. Zeng, L. Wu, H.-W. Lu “Probing Nanoscale Exciton Funneling at Wrinkles of Twisted Bilayer MoS2 Using Tip-Enhanced Photoluminescence Microscopy” Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2022, 13, 3304–3309
21. G. L. Bartolomeo, Y. Zhang, N. Kumar*, R. Zenobi* “Molecular Perturbation Effects in AFM-Based Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: Contact versus Tapping Mode” Analytical Chemistry, 2021, 93, 15358-15364
22. W. Su*, N. Kumar*, H. Shu, O. Lancry, M. Chaigneau “In situ Visualization of Optoelectronic Behavior of Grain Boundaries in Monolayer WSe2 at the Nanoscale” The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2021, 125, 26883-26891
23. Y. Pandey, N. Kumar*, G. Goubert, R. Zenobi* "Nanoscale Chemical Imaging of Supported Lipid Monolayers using Tip‐Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy" Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2021, 60, 19041-19046
24. W. Su*, A. Esfandiar, O. Lancry, J. Shao, N. Kumar*, M. Chaigneau* "Visualising structural modification of patterned graphene nanoribbons using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy" Chemical Communications, 2021, 57, 6895-6898
25. N. Kumar, S. Marchesini, T. Howe, L. Edwards, B. Brennan, A. J. Pollard "Nanoscale characterization of plasma functionalized graphitic flakes using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy" The Journal of Chemical Physics, 2020, 153, 184708
26. M. Race, A. Rae, J.-L. Vorng, R. Havelund, A. Dexter, N. Kumar et al. "Correlative Hyperspectral Imaging Using a Dimensionality-Reduction-Based Image Fusion Method" Analytical Chemistry, 2020, 92, 10979-10988
27. E. L. Legge, K. R. Paton, M. Wywijas, G. McMahon, R. Pemberton, N. Kumar et al. “Determining the level and location of functional groups on few-layer graphene and their effect on the mechanical properties of nanocomposites” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2020, 12, 13481-13493
28. N. Kumar, B. M. Weckhuysen, A. J. Wain, A. J. Pollard “Nanoscale chemical imaging using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy” Nature Protocols, 2019, 14, 1169-1193
29. N. Kumar†, C. S. Wondergem†, A. J. Wain, B. M. Weckhuysen “Towards in situ nanoscale mapping of catalytic reactions in liquid phase using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy” The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2019, 10, 1669-1675 (†Equal contribution)
30. N. Kumar, S. Kalirai, A. J. Wain and B. M. Weckhuysen “Nanoscale chemical imaging of a single catalyst particle with tip-enhanced fluorescence microscopy” ChemCatChem, 2019, 11, 417-423
31. W. Su†*, N. Kumar†*, A. Krayev, M. Chaigneau* “In situ topographical chemical and electrical imaging of carboxyl graphene oxide at the nanoscale” Nature Communications, 2018, 9: 2891 (†Equal contribution)
32. N. Kumar, W. Su, M. Veselý, B. M. Weckhuysen, A. J. Pollard, A. J. Wain “Nanoscale chemical imaging of solid-liquid interfaces using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy” Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 1815 - 1824
33. N. Kumar*, A. Zoladek-Lemanczyk, A. Gilbert, S. M. Tuladhar, T. Kirchartz, B. C. Schroeder, I. McCulloch, J. Nelson, D. Roy, F. A. Castro* “Simultaneous topographical, electrical and optical microscopy of optoelectronic devices at the nanoscale” Nanoscale, 2017, 9, 2723-2731
34. N. Kumar*, M. M. Drozdz, H. Jiang, D. M. Santos, D. J. Vaux “Nanoscale mapping of newly-synthesised phospholipid molecules in a biological cell using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy” Chemical Communications, 2017, 53, 2451-2454
35. W. Su†, N. Kumar†, S. Mignuzzi, J. Crain, D. Roy “Nanoscale mapping of excitonic processes in single layer MoS2 using tip-enhanced photoluminescence microscopy” Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 10564-10569 (†Equal contribution)
36. W. Su†, N. Kumar†, N. Dai, D. Roy “Nanoscale chemical mapping of intrinsic defects in graphene using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy” Chemical Communications, 2016, 52, 8227-8230 (†Equal contribution)
37. N. Kumar*, S. J. Spencer, A. J. Wain, D. Imbraguglio, A. Rossi, B. M. Weckhuysen, D. Roy*, “Extending the plasmonic lifetime of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy probes” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2016, 18, 13710-13716
38. N. Kumar, B. Stephanidis, R. Zenobi, A. J. Wain, D. Roy “Nanoscale mapping of catalytic activity using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy” Nanoscale, 2015, 7, 7133–7137
39. S. Mignuzzi, N. Kumar, B. Brennan, I. S. Gilmore, D. R. Richards, A. J. Pollard, D. Roy “Probing individual point defects in graphene via near-field Raman scattering” Nanoscale, 2015, 9, 19413-19418
40. W. Su, N. Kumar, S. J. Spencer, N. Dai, D. Roy “Transforming bilayer MoS2 into single-layer with strong photoluminescence using UV-ozone oxidation” Nano Research, 2015, 8, 3878-3886
41. N. Kumar, A. Rae, D. Roy “Accurate measurement of enhancement factor in tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy through elimination of far-field artefacts” Applied Physics Letters, 2014, 104, 123106
42. C. Blum, L. Opilik, J. M. Atkin, K. Braun, S. B. Kämmer, V. Kravtsov, N. Kumar et al. “Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy–an interlaboratory reproducibility and comparison study” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 2014, 45, 22-31
43. M. Hirtz, N. Kumar, J. H. Franke, J. Hao, N. Lu, H. Fuchs, L. Chi “Selective deposition of organic molecules onto DPPC templates–A molecular dynamics study” Journals of Colloid Interface Science, 2013, 389, 206-212
Peer Reviewed Review Articles (Invited):
44. R. Zenobi*, N. Kumar*, P. Verma*, “Spatial Resolution in Nanoscale TERS Imaging: Current Status, Challenges, and Guidelines”, Nano Letters, 2025, 25, 3707-3716
45. S. Bienz, C. Xu, Y. Xia, A. Dutta, R. Zenobi, N. Kumar*, “Advancements in Nanoscale Chemical Analysis using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy”, Chimia, 2025, 79, 52-59
46. D. Mrđenović, Z.-F. Cai, Y. Pandey, G. L. Bartolomeo, R. Zenobi*, N. Kumar* “Nanoscale chemical analysis of 2D molecular materials using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy” Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 963-974
47. Z.-F. Cai, N. Kumar, R. Zenobi, “Probing On-Surface Chemistry at the Nanoscale Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy” CCS Chemistry, 2023, 5, 55-71
48. J. Pollard, N. Kumar, A. Rae, S. Mignuzzi, W. Su, D. Roy “Nanoscale spectroscopy: An emerging tool for the characterisation of 2-D materials” Journal of Material Nanoscience, 2014, 1, 39-49
49. T. Hartman, C. S. Wondergem, N. Kumar, A. Berg, B. M. Weckhuysen “Surface- and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy in catalysis” The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2016, 7, 1570-1584
50. N. Kumar, S. Mignuzzi, W. Su, D. Roy “Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: Principles and applications” European Physical Journal Techniques and Instrumentation, 2015, 2, 9
51. M. Hirtz, N. Kumar, L. Chi “Simulation modelling of supported lipid membranes - A review” Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, 2014, 14, 617-623
Non-Peer Reviewed Review Articles (Invited):
52. N. Kumar*, “Nanoscale Chemical Characterization of Novel Semiconductor Materials using Tip-Enhanced Optical Spectroscopy”, Readout: Horiba Technical Reports, 2024, 58, 13-20
53. N. Kumar*, W. Su, F. A. Castro, B. M. Weckhuysen “Applications of Tip-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: From Graphene to Catalysis” Nanoimaging and Nanospectroscopy, 2018, 10726, 1072608
54. N. Kumar* and F. A. Castro “Molecular mapping beyond the diffraction limit using tip-enhanced optical spectroscopy” Imaging & Microscopy, 2017, 3, 34-36
Book Chapters (Invited):
55. A. Krayev, J. F. Schultz, N. Jiang, S. Goswami, A. Tempez, S. Ambardar, D. V. Voronine, N. Kumar et al. “Near-Field Nanospectroscopy and Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS)” in Nanoscopy and Nanospectroscopy, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2023, 131-252
56. N. Kumar* “Nanoscale chemical characterisation of peptides and proteins using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy” in Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins: Volume 43, The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, 2019, 43, 127-153