Ultrasensitive Sensors Based on Plasmonic Nanoparticles

Plasmonic metal nanoparticles can allow direct investigation and monitoring of molecular binding on their surface and also exhibit unique and adjustable optical properties due to the widely applied localized surface plasmon resonances commonly applied in cell imaging, biocatalysis, and biosensing. Gold and silver nanoparticles, especially elongated ones, have high refractive index sensitivities localized in nanoscale sensing volumes. Improving advanced performance based on nanoplasmonic technology leads to sensor miniaturization, multiplexing, and point-of-care testing. This chapter covers the development and application of plasmonic and nanoplasmonic biosensors in different fields, such as biomarker diagnosis in clinical practice and toxic chemical detection. It was evaluated novel chemical functionalization strategies to produce appropriate bioreceptors in detail. The chapter also focuses on recent progress on plasmonic nanoparticles in different shapes and sizes for the design of nanostructured surfaces. The future expectations needed in the use of nanoplasmonic sensors based on plasmonic nanoparticles will be briefly discussed. © 2021 WILEY-VCH GmbH, Boschstr. 12, 69469 Weinheim, Germany. All rights reserved.