RAPID: Fabrication of Bioinspired Plasmonic Nanoarrays for Biosensing and Trace Chemical Detection

在化学系化学测量和成像项目以及化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统系纳米材料项目的生物传感器和生物环境相互作用的支持下，波多黎各大学的Marco De Jesus博士和他的团队正在模仿自然，创造新一代先进的高性能材料，这些材料以不寻常和潜在有用的方式与光相互作用。 该团队与橡树岭国家实验室的纳米相材料科学中心（CNMS）合作，正在评估详细设计对颗粒阵列性能的影响，以更快，更可重复地分析样品，如抗菌剂，新兴污染物和生物活性剂的生物医学和环境意义。 这些研究的结果可能会影响国家利益的领域，包括太阳能电池，先进的光学传感器和分子探针的建设。该项目为纳米技术、化学传感和生物分析化学领域的本科生和研究生提供跨学科的培训和研究机会，旨在提高我们对纳米材料如何在液/固界面与生物活性剂相互作用的理解。具体来说，与ORNL-CNMS合作，De Jesus博士和他的团队评估了金属表面等离子体响应的效率，作为纳米颗粒形态，颗粒间间距和空间分辨率的函数。他们特别感兴趣的是这些性质对这些材料的化学传感应用的负载能力和定量工作范围的影响。使用竞争性结合实验和多元拉曼分析，他们试图确定混合化学试剂的表面相互作用的结构依赖性，以阐明混合物的实际定量的表面选择性和趋势。该项目的成功完成可能会为合理设计具有量身定制特性的纳米材料提供新的进展，用于痕量化学分析。 这项工作为UPRM的本科生和研究生提供了应用于化学系统的纳米技术的研究和培训机会，研究生直接接触CNMS最先进的设施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, and the Biosensors and the Biological & Environmental Interactions of Nanoscale Materials Programs in the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems, Dr. Marco De Jesus and his group at the University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez are mimicking nature to create a new generation of advanced, high performance, materials which interact with light in unusual and potentially useful ways. In collaboration with the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the team is assessing the impact of detailed design on the performance of particle arrays for faster and more reproducible analysis of samples such as antimicrobials, emerging pollutants, and bioactive agents of biomedical and environmental significance. Results of these studies may impact areas of national interest including the construction of solar cells, advanced optical sensors, and molecular probes. The project is providing interdisciplinary training and research opportunities to a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students in nanotechnology, chemical sensing, and bioanalytical chemistry.This project seeks to improve our current understanding of how nanomaterials interact with bioactive agents at the liquid/solid interface. Specifically, in collaboration with ORNL-CNMS, Dr. De Jesus and his team assess the efficiency of plasmonic responses on metallic surfaces as a function of nanoparticle morphology, interparticle spacing, and spatial resolution. They are particularly interested in the impact of these properties on the loading capacity and quantitative working range of these materials for chemical sensing applications. Using competitive binding experiments and multivariate Raman analysis, they seek to identify the structural dependence of surface interactions of mixed chemical agents to elucidate surface selectivity and trends for practical quantitation of mixtures. The successful completion of this project may provide new advances toward the rational design of nanomaterials with tailored properties for trace chemical analysis. The work provides research and training opportunities for a diverse group of UPRM undergraduate and graduate students in nanotechnology applied to chemical systems, with direct exposure of the graduate students to state-of-the-art facilities at CNMS.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.