An Eco-Friendly Disposable Plasmonic Sensor Based on Bacterial Cellulose and Gold

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biotechnology
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Plasmonic sensor platforms with bio-receptors are crucial for biosensors, often relying on expensive, disposable gold chips.
• Current commercial biosensor systems are costly and utilize disposable chips within complex sensor setups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a low-cost, small-size sensor system for monitoring disposable plasmonic chips.
• To develop an innovative optical waveguide using bacterial cellulose (BC) for plasmonic sensing.

Main Methods:

• Sputtering gold onto a bacterial cellulose (BC) slab waveguide to excite localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR).
• Utilizing optical fibers connected to a light source and spectrometer for sensor interrogation.
• Testing the BC-based plasmonic sensor with different waveguide configurations (with and without ions).

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the capability of the BC-based composite as an eco-friendly plasmonic sensor platform.
• Experimental results confirm the potential for creating disposable biosensors using this novel approach.
• The sensor system effectively uses simple equipment and optical fibers for LSPR excitation and detection.

Conclusions:

• The developed BC-based optical waveguide offers a viable, cost-effective alternative for disposable plasmonic biosensor platforms.
• This eco-friendly approach could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of biosensing technologies.
• The system's adaptability with different BC configurations shows promise for diverse sensing applications.