Surface plasmon resonance immunosensor using Au nanoparticle for detection of TNT

In order to develop the fully integrated portable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system for detection of explosives, the amplification strategy of SPR signal was investigated. Indirect competitive inhibition method allowed the middle-sized SPR sensor to detect trinitrotoluene (TNT) at ppt level. However, this enhanced SPR signal was not high enough to detect TNT at ppt level by a miniaturized SPR sensor. Therefore, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect using Au nanoparticle as further signal amplification approach was used. The amplification method of indirect competitive inhibition and LSPR were combined together for fabrication of the immunosurface using Au nanoparticle. TNT detectable range of this immunosurface was from 10 ppt (10 pg/ml) to 100 ppb (100 ng/ml), which was almost comparable to that without Au nanoparticle. The observed resonance angle change due to binding monoclonal TNT antibody (M-TNT Ab) with the immunosurface modified with Au nanoparticle was amplified to four times higher than that in absence of Au nanoparticle.