IIT-G researchers develop low-cost material for spectroscopic detection of trace chemicals theshillongtimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theshillongtimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Rapid and Sensitive Approach to Detecting SARS-CoV-2
Gold Nanoparticles Enable Rapid SARS-CoV-2 Detection and Inhibition
There is a race in this pandemic to develop new technologies to detect SAR-CoV-2 virus and defeat its spread as quickly as possible. A bright light in this race recently appeared in a new paper published by
Nanoscale Advances that describes a simple, incredibly sensitive assay for the detection of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. (Pramanik et al., 2021).
A collaboration of researchers from Jackson State University and The University of Mississippi Medical Center created nanoparticles of gold attached to 4-aminothiophenol via an Au-S bond. In turn, these nanoparticles were functionalized by coating the gold beads with anti-spike antibodies, creating Ramen-based “biosensors” for SARS-CoV-2. In theory, the aggregation of the particles on the surface of a virus should produce a characteristic change in what is known as “Surface Enhanced Raman
The Difference Between Raman and SERS
Image Credit: Metrohm AG
When discussing the feasibility of a low concentration sensing application with a Raman spectroscopist, they are likely to suggest that Raman may not be sensitive enough, but SERS may work.
Yet, that does not get to the core of the actual difference between these two methods, and why SERS (surface-enhanced Raman scattering, or alternatively surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy) is often recommended for low concentration applications.
Here, the technical differences between Raman and SERS spectroscopies will be explored, as well as some of the practical considerations for how to regard the data for each.