Multifunctional nanoparticles: Analytical prospects

Abstract

Multifunctional nanoparticles are among the most exciting nanomaterials with promising applications in analytical chemistry. These applications include (bio)sensing, (bio)assays, catalysis and separations. Although most of these applications are based on the magnetic, optical and electrochemical properties of multifunctional nanoparticles, other aspects such as the synergistic effect of the functional groups and the amplification effect associated with the nanoscale dimension have also been observed. Considering not only the nature of the raw material but also the shape, there is a huge variety of nanoparticles. In this review only magnetic, quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, carbon and inorganic nanotubes as well as silica, titania and gadolinium oxide nanoparticles are addressed. This review presents a narrative summary on the use of multifunctional nanoparticles for analytical applications, along with a discussion on some critical challenges existing in the field and possible solutions that have been or are being developed to overcome these challenges.

Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic Nanoparticles and Its Application in Lipase Immobilization

“…[1][2][3] From the past few decades, nanosized iron oxide particles have attracted great attention in the fields including, but not limited to, immunoassay, 4,5 biosensor, 6,7 bioseparation, 8,9 targeted drug delivery, 10,11 and environmental analysis 12,13 and protein immobilization. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] However, the bare Fe 3 O 4 NPs have high reactivity and easily undergo degradation upon direct exposing to certain environment, leading to poor stability and dispersity.…”

Exploration of nano-surface chemistry for spectral analysis

“…Furthermore, magnetic nanomaterials represent a most exciting prospect in separation and preconcentration of biomolecular species because they can be easily separated from sample matrix by using a magnetic field, and the good biocompatibility could well contribute to bio-labeling and bio-separation [42,43]. Magnetic separation is also combined with optical sensing to perform "magnetic enzyme linked immunosorbent assays" to determine the labeled cells [44,45].…”

Polymeric nanoparticles for optical sensing

“…The simultaneous exploitation of several physical properties possessed by NPs can be beneficial for their application in different fields (de Dios and Diaz-Garcia, 2010). Magnetic SNPs can be integrated with optical reporters for simultaneous cellular imaging and bioseparation, both for in vivo and in vitro applications (Corr et al, 2008;Hwang et al, 2010;Kim et al, 2008;Salgueiriño-Maceira et al, 2006).…”