Antibody nanosensors: a detailed review

Abstract

In this review, the authors will discuss novel and prospective antibody nanosensors for the detection of specific analytes used in a number of fields of analytical chemistry. Biosensors—transducers that incorporate biological molecules for recognition—have been found to be fundamental in a number of chemical, clinical, and environmental analyses. Antibody nanosensors make up a large area of this research, as the antibodies' specific recognition elements make them highly selective and sensitive. These biological molecules can also be tailored to recognize any single analyte or group of analytes, and can be easily functionalized to a number of nanomaterial substrates. Herein, a number of antibody nanosensor transduction methods will be examined, including electrochemical, optical, magnetic, and piezoelectric, among others that fall into multiple categories. This review will show that it is clear that antibody nanosensors—and nanosensors in general—are highly sensitive no matter the transduction method, and that various transduction methods can be suited for a number of different applications.