AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Thursday Sessions
       Session NS+BI-ThM

Paper NS+BI-ThM5
Biofunctionalized Nanoshells for Biological Detection

Thursday, November 16, 2006, 9:20 am, Room 2016

Session: Biological and Molecular Applications of Nanoscale Structures
Presenter: J.E. Van Nostrand, Air Force Research Lab
Authors: J.E. Van Nostrand, Air Force Research Lab
C.S. Levin, Rice University
J.M. Slocik, Air Force Research Lab
J.D. Hartgerink, Rice University
N.J. Halas, Rice University
M.P. Kadakia, Wright State University
R.R. Naik, Air Force Research Lab
Correspondent: Click to Email
The ability to detect chemical and biological agents is arguably one of the highest priority technical challenges today. The capability to obtain specific information at and near single-molecule resolution is the ultimate goal in chemical detection. Recent advances in surface-enhanced spectroscopy have demonstrated that Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) displays spectrum enhancements of several order of magnitude when molecules are absorbed onto metallic surfaces. Metallic nanostructures because of their plasmonic properties are attractive SERS substrates, in particular, nanoshells and nanorods. Combining the specificity of biomolecular recognition with these nanostructures might lead to increased sensitivity and selectivity. Localization of biological recognition motifs to the surface of these nanostructures will lead to large signal enhancements when bound to its target. Nanoshells will be functionalized with capture elements (peptide ligands and antibodies) and these biofunctionalized nanoshells will be tested for their ability to detect micoroganisms using SERS.