Octupolar Plasmonic Nanosensor Based on Ordered Arrays of Triangular Au Nanopillars for Selective Rotavirus Detection

Technologies based on plasmonic nanostructures are a rapidly growing field that aims to be a valid alternative to conventional diagnostic tools. One of the main goals in their technological development consists of the design of systems for sensitive and specific detection of pathogens in water. Among these, rotaviruses represent the main cause of childhood viral gastroenteritis in humans. In this work, we design functionalized plasmonic label-free nanosensors based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensing to detect ultralow concentrations of rotavirus. We demonstrate the possibility of detecting in a specific way amounts lower than 1 × 103 plaque forming unit (PFU)/mL of the Rotavirus in water using a very low sample volume (2 μL). These results together with those obtained in our specificity tests performed with two different viruses (bovine herpesvirus, BHV1; and equine viral arteritis, EVA) confirm that our device is very promising to develop a rapid, simple, very sensitive, and specific immunoassay for detection of rotavirus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that LSPR nanobiosensing has been used for the sensitive and specific detection of rotavirus.