Hybrid nanoreceptors for high sensitivity detection of small molecules by NMR chemosensing

Nanoparticle-assisted NMR chemosensing combines magnetization transfer NMR techniques with the recognition abilities of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to isolate the NMR spectrum of relevant organic species in mixtures. The efficiency of the magnetization transfer is crucial to set the detection limit of the technique. To this aim, a second generation of nanoreceptors obtained by the self-organization of 2 nm AuNPs onto the surface of bigger silica nanoparticles shows better magnetization transfer performances, allowing the detection of analytes in water down to 10 mu M concentration using standard instrumentation.

Automated summary

Nanoparticle-assisted NMR chemosensing combines magnetization transfer NMR techniques with the recognition abilities of gold nanoparticles to isolate the NMR spectrum of relevant organic species in mixtures. The efficiency of magnetization transfer plays a crucial role in setting the detection limit, and the second generation nanoreceptors with better magnetization transfer performances allow for the detection of analytes in water down to 10 μM concentration using standard instrumentation.