Department of Applied Physics & Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Postbus 513, Eindhoven, MB, 5600, the Netherlands.
Small. 2020 Dec;16(52):e2003934. doi: 10.1002/smll.202003934. Epub 2020 Dec 1.
Their tunable optical properties and versatile surface functionalization have sparked applications of plasmonic assemblies in the fields of biosensing, nonlinear optics, and photonics. Particularly, in the field of biosensing, rapid advances have occurred in the use of plasmonic assemblies for real-time single-molecule sensing. Compared to individual particles, the use of assemblies as sensors provides stronger signals, more control over the optical properties, and access to a broader range of timescales. In the past years, they have been used to directly reveal single-molecule interactions, mechanical properties, and conformational dynamics. This review summarizes the development of real-time single-molecule sensors built around plasmonic assemblies. First, a brief overview of their optical properties is given, and then recent applications are described. The current challenges in the field and suggestions to overcome those challenges are discussed in detail. Their stability, specificity, and sensitivity as sensors provide a complementary approach to other single-molecule techniques like force spectroscopy and single-molecule fluorescence. In future applications, the impact in real-time sensing on ultralong timescales (hours) and ultrashort timescales (sub-millisecond), time windows that are difficult to access using other techniques, is particularly foreseen.
它们可调谐的光学性质和多功能的表面功能化激发了等离子体组装在生物传感、非线性光学和光子学领域的应用。特别是在生物传感领域，等离子体组装在实时单分子传感中的应用取得了快速进展。与单个颗粒相比，组装体作为传感器提供了更强的信号、对光学性质的更多控制以及更广泛的时间尺度的访问。在过去的几年中，它们已被用于直接揭示单分子相互作用、机械性能和构象动力学。本综述总结了围绕等离子体组装构建的实时单分子传感器的发展。首先，简要概述了它们的光学性质，然后描述了最近的应用。详细讨论了该领域目前的挑战以及克服这些挑战的建议。作为传感器，它们的稳定性、特异性和灵敏度为其他单分子技术（如力谱学和单分子荧光）提供了一种补充方法。在未来的应用中，预计它们在超长时间尺度（数小时）和超短时间尺度（亚毫秒）的实时传感方面会产生影响，而这些时间尺度是其他技术难以达到的。
