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Biocompatible spider silk-based metal-dielectric fiber optic sugar sensor
Hsuan-Pei E1, Jelene Antonicole Ngan Kong1, Wei-Chun Chen2
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei City 11221, Taiwan.
Biomedical Optics Express
|October 3, 2022
Summary
Researchers developed a sensitive fiber optic sugar sensor using metal-nanolayer-coated spider silk from Nephila pilipes. This biocompatible biosensor accurately detects glucose, fructose, and sucrose concentrations for potential point-of-care diagnostics.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical optics
- Materials science
- Biosensor technology
Background:
- Spider silk offers unique properties like elasticity, strength, biodegradability, and biocompatibility for optical component fabrication.
- Natural biopolymers like spider silk are being explored for advanced sensing applications due to their flexibility and functionalization potential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate a highly sensitive fiber optic sugar sensor utilizing metal-nanolayer-coated spider silk.
- To investigate the sensor's performance in detecting various sugar concentrations.
Main Methods:
- Spider silk from *Nephila pilipes* was collected and functionalized.
- A metal nano-layer was deposited onto the spider silk fiber using glancing angle deposition.
- The fiber optic sensor's principle relies on changes in refractive indices of sugar solutions.
Main Results:
- The fabricated fiber optic sensor demonstrated high sensitivity in detecting fructose, sucrose, and glucose.
- The sensor's performance is attributed to the properties of the metal-nanolayer-coated spider silk and the refractive index principle.
Conclusions:
- Metal-nanolayer-coated spider silk is a promising material for developing highly sensitive fiber optic sugar sensors.
- This approach offers a novel pathway for precise, online sugar measurements, particularly for point-of-care diagnostics.
