A German-Japanese consortium is jointly researching complex nanostructures for the rapid detection of bioanalytes in the PlasmonBioSense project. In this context, high-level Japanese representatives from research and industry visited Leibniz IPHT on May 10, 2023, in order to exchange information with their German project partners on the progress of the project and to deepen existing contacts.
 
The three-year PlasmonBioSense project, launched in 2020, aims to investigate novel hybrid nanostructures based on gold nanoparticles for ultrasensitive sensor technology. Noble metal nanostructures are combined to create sensors with optimal optical properties and outstanding sensitivity.
 
“We can specifically control and adjust the design of these hybrid nanostructures. The resulting sensor technology is characterized by maximum sensitivity and opens up new possibilities in diagnostics. With their help, for example, pathogens can be quickly detected in low concentrations,” explains Dr. Andrea Csáki, head of the Molecular Plasmonics Group, who is coordinating the project together with Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Fritzsche, head of the Nanobiophotonics Research Department, at Leibniz IPHT.
 
The sensors can be read out using two different spectroscopic analysis methods: Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectroscopy, in which the electrons of the nanoparticles are excited by light and set “oscillating,” and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), which is used to determine the molecular fingerprint, can be used to study biological samples.
 
In addition to the scientific exchange and the intensification of contacts, the participants of the meeting discussed the progress of the project as well as future joint research activities.
 
German-Japanese consortium: Participating project partners
 
Project partners of the PlasmonBioSense project are Prof. Eiichi Tamiya Lab – National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) of the Osaka University, Kure National College of Technology, Furuno Denki Electric Co., Ltd., temicon GmbH, Tanaka Kikinzoku as well as Leibniz IPHT.