School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore.
Chem Soc Rev. 2014 May 21;43(10):3426-52. doi: 10.1039/c3cs60479a. Epub 2014 Feb 18.
The main challenge for all electrical, mechanical and optical sensors is to detect low molecular weight (less than 400 Da) chemical and biological analytes under extremely dilute conditions. Surface plasmon resonance sensors are the most commonly used optical sensors due to their unique ability for real-time monitoring the molecular binding events. However, their sensitivities are insufficient to detect trace amounts of small molecular weight molecules such as cancer biomarkers, hormones, antibiotics, insecticides, and explosive materials which are respectively important for early-stage disease diagnosis, food quality control, environmental monitoring, and homeland security protection. With the rapid development of nanotechnology in the past few years, nanomaterials-enhanced surface plasmon resonance sensors have been developed and used as effective tools to sense hard-to-detect molecules within the concentration range between pmol and amol. In this review article, we reviewed and discussed the latest trend and challenges in engineering and applications of nanomaterials-enhanced surface plasmon resonance sensors (e.g., metallic nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, carbon-based nanomaterials, latex nanoparticles and liposome nanoparticles) for detecting "hard-to-identify" biological and chemical analytes. Such information will be viable in terms of providing a useful platform for designing future ultrasensitive plasmonic nanosensors.
所有电气、机械和光学传感器的主要挑战是在极其稀释的条件下检测低分子量（小于 400Da）的化学和生物分析物。表面等离子体共振传感器是最常用的光学传感器，因为它们具有实时监测分子结合事件的独特能力。然而，它们的灵敏度不足以检测痕量的小分子，如癌症生物标志物、激素、抗生素、杀虫剂和爆炸物，这些对于早期疾病诊断、食品质量控制、环境监测和国土安全保护分别都非常重要。在过去几年中，纳米技术的快速发展已经开发并使用了纳米材料增强的表面等离子体共振传感器作为检测难以检测分子的有效工具，其浓度范围在 pmol 和 amol 之间。在这篇综述文章中，我们回顾和讨论了纳米材料增强的表面等离子体共振传感器（例如，金属纳米粒子、磁性纳米粒子、碳基纳米材料、乳胶纳米粒子和脂质体纳米粒子）在检测“难以识别”的生物和化学分析物方面的工程和应用的最新趋势和挑战。这些信息将为设计未来的超灵敏等离子体纳米传感器提供一个有用的平台。
