Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Measurement of Scattering Nonlinearities from a Single Plasmonic Nanoparticle
Published on: January 3, 2016
Surface Plasmon Enhanced Light Scattering Biosensing: Size Dependence on the Gold Nanoparticle Tag
Chih-Tsung Yang1, Yi Xu2,3, Mohammad Pourhassan-Moghaddam4,5
1Future Industries Institute and ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio and Nano Science and Technology, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes 5095, Australia. chih-tsung.yang@unisa.edu.au.
Abstract:
Surface plasmon enhanced light scattering (SP-LS) is a powerful new sensing SPR modality that yields excellent sensitivity in sandwich immunoassay using spherical gold nanoparticle (AuNP) tags. Towards further improving the performance of SP-LS, we systematically investigated the AuNP size effect. Simulation results indicated an AuNP size-dependent scattered power, and predicted the optimized AuNPs sizes (i.e., 100 and 130 nm) that afford extremely high signal enhancement in SP-LS. The maximum scattered power from a 130 nm AuNP is about 1700-fold higher than that obtained from a 17 nm AuNP. Experimentally, a bio-conjugation protocol was developed by coating the AuNPs with mixture of low and high molecular weight PEG molecules. Optimal IgG antibody bioconjugation conditions were identified using physicochemical characterization and a model dot-blot assay. Aggregation prevented the use of the larger AuNPs in SP-LS experiments. As predicted by simulation, AuNPs with diameters of 50 and 64 nm yielded significantly higher SP-LS signal enhancement in comparison to the smaller particles. Finally, we demonstrated the feasibility of a two-step SP-LS protocol based on a gold enhancement step, aimed at enlarging 36 nm AuNPs tags. This study provides a blue-print for the further development of SP-LS biosensing and its translation in the bioanalytical field.
More Related Videos
09:29Utilization of Plasmonic and Photonic Crystal Nanostructures for Enhanced Micro- and Nanoparticle Manipulation
Published on: September 27, 2011
10:43Author Spotlight: Single-Molecule Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Measurements Enabled by Plasmonic DNA Origami Nanoantennas
Published on: July 21, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Factors Affecting Dissolution: Particle Size and Effective Surface Area
Cell Size
Surface Area
Cells can take in nutrients and water via diffusion through the plasma membrane itself or through specific channels in the membrane. The area of the membrane surrounding...
Light Acquisition
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Scatter Plot
Frequency-dependent Selection