Localized surface plasmon resonance with five-branched gold nanostars in a plastic optical fiber for bio-chemical sensor implementation

Sensors (Basel). 2013 Oct 29;13(11):14676-86. doi: 10.3390/s131114676.

Abstract

In this paper a refractive index sensor based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in a Plastic Optical Fiber (POF), is presented and experimentally tested. LSPR is achieved exploiting five-branched gold nanostars (GNS) obtained using Triton X-100 in a seed-growth synthesis. They have the uncommon feature of three localized surface plasmon resonances. The strongest LSPRs fall in two ranges, one in the 600-900 nm range (LSPR 2) and the other one in the 1,100-1,600 nm range (LSPR 3), both sensible to refractive index changes. Anyway, due to the extremely strong attenuation (>10(2) dB/m) of the employed POF in the 1,100-1,600 nm range, only LSPR 2 will be exploited for refractive index change measurements, useful for bio-chemical sensing applications, as a proof of principle of the possibility of realizing a compact, low cost and easy-to-use GNS based device.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biosensing Techniques / instrumentation*
  • Biosensing Techniques / methods
  • Gold / chemistry*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry
  • Metal Nanoparticles / ultrastructure*
  • Optical Fibers
  • Plastics
  • Refractometry
  • Solvents / chemistry
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / instrumentation*
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / methods

Substances

  • Plastics
  • Solvents
  • Gold