Tag : nano-sensor

Solna: Researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute have developed a small sensor for detecting pesticides on fruit. The approach, which was described as a proof-of-concept, uses flame-sprayed silver nanoparticles to boost the chemical signals. The findings of the research were published in the journal ‘Advanced Science’. While still at an early stage, the researchers hope these nano-sensors could help uncover food pesticides before consumption. “Reports show that up to half of all fruits sold in the EU contain pesticide residues that in larger quantities have been linked to human health problems,” says Georgios Sotiriou, principal researcher at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, and the study’s corresponding author. “However, current techniques for detecting pesticides on single products before consumption are restricted in practice by the high cost and cumbersome manufacturing of its sensors. To overcome this, we developed inexpensive and reproducible nano-sensors that could be used to monitor traces of fruit pesticides at, for example, the store.” The new nano-sensors employ a 1970s discovery known as surface-enhanced Raman scattering, or SERS, a powerful sensing technique that can increase the diagnostic signals of biomolecules on metal surfaces by more than 1 million times. The technology has been used in several research fields, including chemical and environmental analysis as well as to detect biomarkers for various diseases. However, high production costs and limited batch-to-batch reproducibility have so far hindered widespread application in food safety diagnostics. Flame spray technology In the current study, the researchers created a SERS nano-sensor by using flame spray – ...