Localized surface plasmon resonance immunoassay and verification using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

This work exploits the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectroscopy of noble metal nanoparticles to achieve sensitive and selective detection of biological analytes. Noble metal nanoparticles exhibit an LSPR that is strongly dependent on their size, shape, material, and the local dielectric environment. The LSPR is also responsible for the intense signals observed in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Ag nanoparticles fabricated using the nanosphere lithography (NSL) technique exploits this LSPR sensitivity as a signal transduction method in biosensing applications. The current work implements LSPR biosensing for the anti dinitrophenyl (antiDNP) immunoassay system. Upon forming the 2,4 dinitrobenzoic acid /antiDNP complex, this system shows a large LSPR shift of 44 nm when exposed to antiDNP concentration of 1.5 x 10 M. In addition, due to the unique molecular characteristics of the functional groups on the biosensor, it can also be characterized using SERS. First, the nanoparticles are functionalized with a mixed self-assembled monolayer (SAM) comprised of 2:1 octanethiol and 11-amino undecanethiol. The SAM is exposed to 2,4-dinitrobenzoic acid with the 1-ethyl-3-[3-dimethylaminopropyl]carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) coupling reagent. Finally, the 2,4-dinitrophenyl terminated SAM is exposed to various concentration of antiDNP. LSPR shifts indicate the occurrence of a binding event. SER spectra confirm binding of 2,4 dinitrobenzoic acid with amine-terminated SAM. This LSPR/SERS biosensing method can be generalized to a myriad of biologically relevant systems.