Label-free glyphosate biosensor based on tilted fiber Bragg grating with gold nanostars

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide with environmental persistence and potential toxicity concerns.
• Accurate and sensitive detection methods for glyphosate are crucial for environmental monitoring and safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop novel, label-free biosensors for sensitive glyphosate detection.
• To enhance biosensor performance using gold nanoparticles and nanostars.
• To validate sensor selectivity against similar compounds like glycine.

Main Methods:

• Utilized tilted fiber Bragg gratings (TFBG) as the sensing platform.
• Functionalized TFBGs with gold spherical nanoparticles (NP) and nanostars (NS) to enhance sensitivity.
• Employed Finite Element Method (FEM) for numerical simulations to validate experimental findings.
• Tested sensor selectivity to distinguish glyphosate from glycine.

Main Results:

• Achieved a significantly lowered limit of detection (10^-8 µg/L) with TFBG functionalized with nanostars.
• Demonstrated a wide detection concentration range from 10^-7 to 1 µg/L.
• Successfully validated sensor selectivity, distinguishing glyphosate from glycine.

Conclusions:

• The developed TFBG-based biosensors offer a highly sensitive and selective method for glyphosate detection.
• Gold nanoparticle enhancement is effective in boosting sensor performance.
• This technology holds promise for environmental monitoring and ensuring agricultural safety.