Nanohole array structure under scanning electron microscope.
Biosensors are analytical devices for quantitative detection of biological substances. Label-free optical biosensors manipulate light to detect the binding of target substances, resulting in a change of optical response. This single-step, ‘label-free’ detection is very different from standard immunoassays which involve cumbersome chemical/dye labelling.
Nanoplasmonic biosensor stands out as one of the optical biosensors for real-world applications given its sensitivity, rapidness, robustness, and ability to miniaturize. In this project, we are developing nanoplasmonic biosensor for rapid detection of biological substances towards a portable analytical device.
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One of the plasmonic biosensors that we are currently working on are gold nanohole arrays. These nanohole arrays are produced by micro/nano-fabrication, which are well-established, scalable semiconductor manufacturing process. We are currently developing image-based analysis strategy for applications that require rapid, multiplexed (the detection of multiple analytes in a single assay) and on-site detection.
Nanohole arrays with different geometries under optical microscope.
Selected publication
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Zhu Y., Reece P. J., Differential Interference Contrast-Based Interrogation of Plasmonic Gold Nanohole Arrays for Label-Free Imaging Sensing, ACS Applied Nano Materials 4 (10), 10657-10664. DOI: 10.1021/ACSANM.1C02100
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Khan M., Zhu Y., Yao Y., Zhang P., Agrawal A., Reece P., Impact of Metal Crystallinity-related Morphologies on the Sensing Performance of Plasmonic Nanohole Arrays, Nanoscale, 12, 7577-7585 (2020). DOI: 10.1039/D0NR00619J
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Piya R., Zhu Y., Soeriyadi A. H., Silva S. M.; Reece J. P., Gooding J. J., Micropatterning of Porous Silicon Bragg Reflectors With Poly(Ethylene Glycol) to Fabricate Cell Microarrays: Towards Single Cell Sensing, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 127, 229-235 (2019). DOI: 10.1016/J.BIOS.2018.12.001
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Zhu Y., Soeriyadi A. H., Parker S. G., Reece P. J., Gooding J. J., Chemical patterning on preformed porous silicon photonic crystals: Towards multiplex detection of protease activity at precise positions, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2, 3582-3588 (2014). DOI: 10.1039/C4TB00281D