A Highly Sensitive and Selective Surface-Enhanced Nanobiosensor

Nanosphere lithography (NSL) derived triangular Ag nanoparticles were used to create an extremely sensitive and specific optical biological and chemical nanosensor. Using simple UV-vis spectroscopy, biotinylated surface-confined Ag nanoparticles were used to detect streptavidin down to one picomolar concentrations. The system was tested for nonspecific binding interactions with bovine serum albumin and was found to display virtually no adverse results. The extremely sensitive and selective response of the Ag nanoparticle sensor indicates an exciting use for biological and chemical sensing.