Nanoparticles are emerging as powerful tools for research, therapeutic, and diagnostic applications. In particular, their utility as lateral flow test probes has gained prominence amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, scientists must have a thorough understanding of nanoparticle properties and the factors that modulate them to generate probes with high diagnostic sensitivity.
Nanoparticles can be created using many different materials, including noble metals such as gold and silver, natural and synthetic polymers, and biological components such as lipids. Gold is especially popular due to its stability, which not only limits aggregation, but also allows gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to be prepared in various shapes and structures, including spheres, rods, and shells. This chemical and physical stability also results in excellent biocompatibility, making AuNPs well suited for biomedical applications.1
Given this, it is unsurprising that AuNPs are widely used as lateral flow test probes. Proper probe selection is imperative for the performance of ...
