Plasmonics-Based Biosensors Using Molecular Imprinting Techniques

Dear Colleagues,

The development of point-of-care (POC) methods for detecting biological analytes with high specificity, quick response time and at lower detection limits is essential for medical screening, early disease detection, environmental monitoring, food safety, and agricultural applications, among numerous others. Considering this, plasmonics-based sensors have demonstrated their great potential for the development of such types of devices over the last twenty years, which is due to their high sensitivity, easy fabrication process and the vast possibilities in integration with other methods. Methods based on plasmonics include propagating surface plasmon resonance (SPR), localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF), and surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRA). However, among the previously mentioned methods, SPR and LSPR are dependent on the change in refractive index (RI) of the surrounding the thin metallic film/nanostructures, which limits their application with respect to developing highly specific biosensors. Hence, a highly selective biomolecule or polymeric layer is used on top of the metal layer to achieve high specificity. These biomolecules can be antibodies, enzymes, DNA, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), etc. Molecular imprinting technology allows the introduction of specific recognition sites within a polymeric material by introducing the desired target molecule, called the template, during the polymerisation process. There are many factors driving the successful production of a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP), including the adequate selection of monomers capable of establishing a molecular interaction with the template as well as the adjustment of the process parameters (including template removal) to the final format of the polymer to be produced. Numbers of papers have been reported with a unique integration of plasmonics and MIPs.

The aim of the present Special Issue, “Plasmonics-Based Biosensors Using Molecular Imprinting Techniques”, is to assemble a diverse collection of ideas and approaches offering the integration of plasmonic transducers with MIPs for the fabrication of sensors used in highly sensitive as well as highly specific detection of biological analytes.

Dr. Anand Mohan Shrivastav
Guest Editor

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