Development and sensitivity studies of a gold nanorod platform for a localized surface plasmon resonance based optical fibre biosensor

A localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) based optical fibre sensor using gold nanorods has been demonstrated, showing a much higher sensitivity to the refractive index change surrounding the sensing area than that using gold nanoparticles. In this work, a novel method has been employed to improve gold nanorod synthesis and immobilization on the exposed surface area of an optical fibre core intended for sensor use. The device sensitivity, measured as a function of the refractive index change, was found to be around 778nm/RIU (RIU=Refractive Index Unit), showing considerable promise to be a better platform for label-free biosensors, monitoring the interaction between antibodies and their antigens in a number of sensing applications in industry.