Surface plasmon detection apparatuses and methods

Abstract

The disclosed technology relates to methods, apparatuses and systems for detecting molecules using surface plasmon resonance techniques, and more particularly to surface plasmon resonance techniques that employ metal nanoparticles formed on substrates. In one aspect, method of making a layer of metallic nanoparticles includes providing a liquid composition comprising a binder polymer and a solvent and at least partially immersing, into the liquid composition, an article comprising a polymeric surface, wherein the polymeric surface comprises a polymeric material and does not comprise an inorganic glass or crystalline material. The method additionally includes applying a gas phase plasma to the liquid composition to facilitate chemical reactions between the binder polymer and the polymeric material of the polymeric surface to form a binder layer on the polymeric surface of the article. The method further includes applying metallic nanoparticles onto the binder layer to form a metallic nanoparticle layer on the binder layer.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . An optical detection device for detecting a target molecule, the optical detection device comprising:
 a substrate comprising a polymeric surface and configured to be at least partially inserted into a container configured to hold a liquid containing the target molecule;   a binder polymer layer formed on the polymeric surface, wherein the binder polymer layer comprises nitrogen-containing functional groups and the polymeric surface comprises functional groups reactive with the nitrogen-containing functional groups; and   wherein the binder polymer layer is bonded to the polymeric surface by nitrogen-containing bonds, and   wherein the detection device is configured such that, when the target molecule is present in the liquid, a change in an optical property at the polymeric surface is detected from light transmitted through the substrate.   
     
     
         3 . The optical detection device of  claim 2  wherein the nitrogen-containing functional groups comprise an amine group. 
     
     
         4 . The optical detection device of  claim 2 , wherein the nitrogen-containing bonds comprise an amide bond. 
     
     
         5 . The optical detection device of  claim 2 , wherein the binder polymer layer comprises one or more cationic polymers selected from the group consisting of:
 poly diallyl dimethyl ammonium, poly diallydimethylammonium chloride, poly allylamine hydrochloride, poly 4-vinylbenzyltrimethyl ammonium chloride, polyamines derived from ethyleneamine including diethylenetriamine (DETA), H 2 N—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH 2 , an analog of diethylene glycol, triethylenetetramine (TETA), H 2 N—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH 2 , tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA), H 2 N—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH 2 , pentaethylenehexamine (PEHA), H 2 N—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH 2 , polyethylene amine, hyperbranched polymers including polyamidoamine dendrimers, polypropylimine dendrimers, polyethyleneimine (PEI) and a combination thereof.   
     
     
         6 . The optical detection device of  claim 2 , wherein the binder polymer comprises one or more anionic polymers selected from the group consisting of:
 poly acrylic acid, poly sodium 4-styrene sulfonate, poly vinylsulfonic acid, poly sodium salt, poly amino acids and a combination thereof.   
     
     
         7 . The optical detection device of  claim 2 , wherein the polymeric surface comprises a transparent polymeric material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, polystyrene, polycarbonate, triacetyl cellulose, cyclic olefin, polyethylene terephthalate, polyarylate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyimide and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The optical detection device of  claim 2 , wherein the nitrogen-containing bonds are formed by a chemical reaction between some of the nitrogen-containing functional groups in the binder polymer and some of the functional groups reactive with the nitrogen-containing functional groups on the polymeric surface. 
     
     
         9 . The optical detection device of  claim 8 , wherein the functional groups reactive with amine comprise a carbonate group, an isothiocyanate group, an isocyanate group or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The optical detection device of  claim 2 , further comprising metallic nanoparticles formed on the binder polymer layer. 
     
     
         11 . The optical detection device of  claim 10 , wherein the metallic nanoparticles are bound to the binder polymer layer by some of the nitrogen-containing functional groups of the binder polymer layer. 
     
     
         12 . The optical detection device of  claim 10 , wherein the metallic nanoparticles form a separate layer from and on the binder polymer and is configured to contact the liquid when the substrate is at least partially inserted into the container holding the liquid. 
     
     
         13 . The optical detection device of  claim 10 , wherein the metallic nanoparticles are configured such that the change in the optical property at the polymeric surface comprises one or both of a change in an index of refraction and a change in an absorbance that are caused by the target molecule. 
     
     
         14 . The optical detection device of  claim 10 , further comprising one or more ligands attached to the metallic nanoparticles and adapted to selectively bind to the target molecule when present. 
     
     
         15 . The optical detection device of  claim 2 , wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of surfaces each having the binder polymer layer uniformly coated thereon, wherein thicknesses of the hinder polymer layers formed on different surfaces do not vary by more than 10% from each other. 
     
     
         16 . The optical detection device of  claim 2 , comprising a plurality of substrates each comprising the polymeric surface and configured to be at least partially inserted into the container, wherein the optical detection device is configured such that the change in the optical property is detected from light transmitted through the plurality of substrates. 
     
     
         17 . The optical detection device of  claim 2 , further comprising the container, wherein the change in the optical property is detected from light transmitted through the substrate and further through the container. 
     
     
         18 . The optical detection device of  claim 17 , wherein one or both of the substrate and the container are entirely formed of a transparent material. 
     
     
         19 . An optical detection device for detecting a target molecule, the optical detection device comprising:
 a substrate comprising a polymeric surface and configured to be at least partially inserted into a container configured to hold a liquid containing the target molecule;   a binder polymer layer formed on the polymeric surface and having nitrogen-containing functional groups; and   metallic nanoparticles bound to some of the nitrogen-containing functional groups at a surface region of the binder polymer layer and configured to contact the liquid when present in the container,   wherein the detection device is configured such that, when the target molecule is present in the liquid, a change in an optical property of the metallic nanoparticles is detected from light transmitted through the substrate.   
     
     
         20 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the polymeric surface comprises functional groups reactive with the nitrogen-containing functional groups, and wherein the binder polymer layer is bonded to the polymeric surface by nitrogen-containing bonds. 
     
     
         21 . The optical detection device of  claim 20 , wherein the nitrogen-containing bonds comprise an amide bond. 
     
     
         22 . The optical detection device of  claim 19  wherein the nitrogen-containing functional groups comprise an amine group. 
     
     
         23 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the nitrogen-containing bonds are formed by a chemical reaction between some of the nitrogen-containing functional groups in the binder polymer and some of the functional groups reactive with the nitrogen-containing functional groups on the polymeric surface. 
     
     
         24 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the functional groups reactive with the nitrogen-containing functional groups comprise a carbonate group, an isothiocyanate group, an isocyanate group or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         25 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the change in the optical property of the metallic nanoparticles comprises one or both of a change in an index of refraction and a change in an absorbance that are caused by the target molecule when present. 
     
     
         26 . The optical detection device of  claim 25 , wherein the change in the index of refraction and the change in the absorbance are caused by the target molecule when present. 
     
     
         27 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the metallic nanoparticles form a separate layer from and on the binder polymer layer and are configured such that localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is induced in response to light incident thereon. 
     
     
         28 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the metallic nanoparticles have a median size between about 1 nm and about 10 nm, between about 5 nm and about 20 nm, between about 10 nm and about 30 nm, between about 20 nm and about 40 nm, between about 30 nm and about 50 nm, between about 40 nm and about 60 nm, between about 50 nm and about 80 nm, between about 60 nm and about 100 nm, between about 80 nm and about 150 nm, between about 100 nm and about 200 nm, between about 150 nm and about 250 nm, between about 200 nm and about 300 nm, between about 250 nm and about 400 nm, between about 300 nm and about 700 nm, or between about 500 nm and about 900 nm. 
     
     
         29 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein a surface density of the metallic nanoparticles is between about 1×10 8 /cm 2  and about 1×10 13 /cm 2 . 
     
     
         30 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the metallic nanoparticles comprise metallic elements selected from the group consisting of aluminum (Al), bismuth (Bi), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), gold (Au), iron (Fe), indium (In), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), silver (Ag), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), tin (β-Sn), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti), tungsten (W), zinc (Zn) and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         31 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the binder polymer comprises one or more cationic polymers selected from the group consisting of:
 poly diallyl dimethyl ammonium, poly diallydimethylammonium chloride, poly allylamine hydrochloride, poly 4-vinylbenzyltrimethyl ammonium chloride, polyamines derived from ethyleneamine including diethylenetriamine (DETA), H 2 N—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH 2 , an analog of diethylene glycol, triethylenetetramine (TETA), H 2 N—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH 2 , tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA), H 2 N—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH 2 , pentaethylenehexamine (PEHA), H 2 N—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH—CH 2 CH 2 —NH 2 , polyethylene amine, hyperbranched polymers including polyamidoamine dendrimers, polypropylimine dendrimers, polyethyleneimine (PEI) and a combination thereof.   
     
     
         32 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the binder polymer comprises one or more anionic polymers selected from the group consisting of:
 poly acrylic acid, poly sodium 4-styrene sulfonate, poly vinylsulfonic acid, poly sodium salt, poly amino acids and a combination thereof.   
     
     
         33 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the polymeric surface comprises a transparent polymeric material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, polystyrene, polycarbonate, triacetyl cellulose, cyclic olefin, polyethylene terephthalate, polyarylate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyimide and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         34 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , further comprising one or more ligands attached to the metallic nanoparticles and adapted to selectively bind to the target molecule. 
     
     
         35 . The optical detection device of  claim 19 , wherein the target molecule comprises a molecule selected from the group consisting of amino acids, peptides, polypeptides, proteins, glycoproteins, lipoproteins, nucleosides, nucleotides, oligonucleotides, nucleic acids, sugars, carbohydrates, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, fatty acids, lipids, hormones, metabolites, cytokines, neurotransmitters, antigens, allergens, antibodies, inhibitors, drug molecules, toxins, poisons, pesticides, bacteria, virus, radioisotopes, vitamins, amphetamines, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), metal ions, residual chemicals in food, antibiotics, contaminants in water and a combination thereof.