Gold nanoparticles-based tablet (AuNPs-Tablet) sensor for point-of-care applications

Join this Chemical and Material Engineering seminar featuring PhD student Zubi Sadiq.

The applications of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the development of point-of-care (POC) devices are demanding due to the unique properties of AuNPs, which align well with the specific requirements of POC devices. Nonetheless, several challenges remain to be solved to maximize the potential of AuNPs-based POC devices, such as low stability of AuNPs solution, reproducibility issue, poor sensitivity, and long assay time.

These issues limit the ability of AuNPs sensors to meet all RE-ASSURED criteria for POC devices, which stands for Real-time connectivity, Ease of specimen collection, Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-Friendly, Rapid and Robust, Equipment free or Environment friendly, Deliverable to end user.

In my PhD journey, I aim to address these challenges with an emphasis on introducing a tablet platform for detecting different disease biomarkers. In the first objective, I encapsulated gold nanoparticles in the tablet form (AuNPs-Tablet) that offers ultra-high stability to AuNPs besides its low cost, portability, and user-friendliness for colorimetric assays.

Next, the practical application of the AuNPs-Tablet is explored by detecting hypochlorite in addition to present a sensor’s tunability. In the third objective, I detected oxidative stress biomarker via hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Fenton-assisted degradation of AuNPs’ shielding. Finally, a strategy to develop a dual-functional tablet is proposed, leveraging the plasmonic and nanozyme characteristics of the AuNPs-Tablet. For instance, I will detect uric acid and glucose in two different systems using the same tablet.

Each of these objectives introduce the AuNPs-Tablet as an innovative POC platform that fulfills all the RE-ASSURED criteria and can measure different disease biomarkers (i.e., H2O2, uric acid, and glucose). Overall, the AuNPs-Tablet sensor significantly expands the applicability of both AuNPs and tablet-based assays due to their great potential for point-of-use applications. The AuNPs-Tablet sensor will facilitate better global health management and disease control through early detection of biomarkers.

About the speaker

Zubi Sadiq is a PhD student in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering and is working under the supervision of Dr. Sana Jahanshahi Anbuhi.