Engineered Plasmonic Nanobiosensors for Medical Diagnostics, Environmental Monitoring and Food Safety

Engineered Plasmonic Nanobiosensors for Medical Diagnostics, Environmental Monitoring and Food Safety

Description of the activity

We address topics of nanotechnologies and photonic materials and devices, of polymer-based nano systems and organic-inorganic hybrid, of metallic metamaterials, in addition to optical and spectroscopic techniques to study the physical properties of materials, characterize devices, analyze dynamic processes and finally for nanolithography of complex 1D and 2D geometries.
At the same time, research activities are carried out aimed at the development of plasmonics LSPR (Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance) and SERS (Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance) based-nanobiosensors by electron beam lithography based on active photonic crystals and Quasi-Crystals, for the detection of chemical species and bio-analyes for Medical diagnostics, Environmental monitoring and Food safety. In details, we realized efficient, sensitive and specific nanosensing configurations used for pesticides (glyphosate and thiram), insecticides (fipronil and imidacloprid), viruses (Hepatitis A virus, Norovirus, Rotavirus), bacteria (Brucella) and toxin (Shiga) detection, in the frame of Regional projects funded by the European Regional Development Fund-FESR of POR Campania (Ambra and MultiPath), and the International Major International Joint Research Project funded by the National Nature Science Found of China, in collaboration with Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Istituto Superiore di SanitĂ  and Photonics Institute of Ningbo University.

Involved personnel

M. Rippa | V. Marchesano | A. Vestri | D. Sagnelli | L. Petti

National and International Collaborations

  • Dr. Stefano Morabito (Food safety, nutrition and Veterinary Public Health Department, Istituto Superiore di SanitĂ ),
  • Dr. Giovanna Fusco (Director UOC Virologia, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno),
  • Prof. J. Zyss (ENS-Cachan, France),
  • Prof. F. Simoni (Physics Dept. and Engineer of Materials of University of Marche),
  • Prof. M. Brigotti (Alma Mater Studiorum – UniversitĂ  di Bologna, Dipartimento di Medicina Specialistica, Diagnostica e Sperimentale (DIMES)),
  • Prof. J. Zhou (Photonics dept. Of Ningbo University-China),
  • Prof. Weijie Song (Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering-CAS Cina),
  • Dr. Giuseppe Nenna (Nanomaterials and Devices Laboratory, Sustainable Materials Division, ENEA Portici Research Center),
  • Prof. Antonio De Luca (UniversitĂ  della Calabria).

Instrumentation/facilities

The team coordinated by Dr. Petti in ISASI-CNR is equipped with:

  • 1 IOL-integrated optics laboratory which includes a total of 1 fully equipped optical bench,
  • 1 NanoFab-nanoFabrication laboratory with a clean room and fully equipped with a large Facility consisting of a Raith 150 electron beam lithography system,
  • 1 NanoSOFT-Nanocomposites and Soft Matter laboratory for sample preparation,
  • 1 SMART Materials laboratory (chemistry lab).

In these labs, characterized by an instrumental heritage of high technological value, take place the research activities of structured researchers, post-docs and researchers from other institutions operating in the field of biology and applied optics for non-destructive control and analysis of materials, laser-matter interaction, photonics and nano-fabrication, sensors and spectroscopy for the study and characterization of materials, as part of joint research projects.
The equipment and facilities available at ISASI-CNR include:

  • NanoFAB: Clean room for nanolithography: Electron Beam Lithography system RAITH 150, Scanning Electron Microscope;
  • IOL: Integrated optics laboratory: Laser sources form VIS to NIR: COHERENT laser source VERDI G5 (max power 5 W, λ=532 nm), NKT broad-band laser source SuperK COMPACT (λRange = 450 nm – 2400 nm), DPSS laser source 532nm-2W (CW), LD PUMPED ALL-SOLID-STATE BLUE LASER MBL- F-457 200mW, Optical light source @405nm-200 Mw; UV-VIS portable spectrometers Ocean Optics USB4000, UV-VIS portable spectrometers FLAME-T-VIS-NIR-ES Spectrometer Assembly 350-1000nm, Olympus Microscope BX51, Integrated Raman systems QEPro with optical microscopes @785nm, Integrated Raman systems NirQuest@1064nm (NIRQUEST512: NIR Spectrometer, 900-1700nm) with optical microscope; AFM-atomic force microscopy NT-MDT; 3D microfabrication technologies (microMake-Laser micromachining system and Wedge UV UV sub-ns DPSS @ 266nm); Optical set-up for: a) characterization of thin films, b) plasmonic resonances evaluation of metallic nanostructures and c) Far Field Diffraction analysis of periodic and a-periodic nanostructures. High resolution and computerized handling systems; Optical spectrum analyzers; Data acquisition and analysis systems.
  • NanoSOFT: Soft Matter and Nanocomposites Lab: samples preparation laboratory: Spin coater CaLCTec FR10KPA, Laminar flow cabinet, Oven, optical microscope, hot stage, Quorum Sputterer, security cupboards for chemicals etc.
  • SMART Materials Lab: In the Smart Materials lab, our task is to synthesize liquid crystal based materials and novel polymers. The infrastructures present in the lab are: Chemical fumehood equipped for simple synthesis, a rotovapor, a custom machine to prepare reactors cell, balance, security cupboards for chemicals

Active projects and contracts

  • H2OSafety Project: MIUR-PROOF OF CONCEPT- 467/Ric of 02.03.2018: “Design and development of environmental sensors for the research of microbiological and chemical contaminants hazardous to health (POC01_00109)”. Duration: 07/2019-01/2023. PI: L. Petti
  • STADION Project: Photometric station for in vitro diagnostic analysis. ENEA External Fund (DFM.AD001.377) – contract