A Comparative Performance Evaluation of 2D Nanomaterials for Applications in Plasmonic Biosensing

Abstract

Plasmonic sensing relies on the interaction between the electromagnetic light wave and free electrons that reside at the interface of two materials, one of them being a metal. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR)‐based biosensing has distinct advantages of providing real‐time and label‐free detection technique that is capable of giving accurate and repeatable results. 2D nanomaterials (graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides [TMDCs] such as MoS2 and WS2) have recently gained high popularity in the field of biomedical sciences. Using Biacore commercial SPR machine manufactured by GE Healthcare, the efficacy of various combinations of these materials coated on the plasmonic metal gold (Au) (Au + MoS2, Au + WS2, Au + graphene, Au + graphene + MoS2, and Au + graphene + WS2) is evaluated, in enhancing the sensitivity of the biosensor as compared with the standard Kretschmann configuration (only Au). Some simulation results are also presented at incident light wavelengths of 633 and 785 nm that are based on the angular interrogation method. To conclude, it is found that the sensitivity in the increasing order is: only Au < Au + MoS2 < Au + WS2 ≈ Au + graphene < Au + graphene + MoS2 < Au + graphene + WS2.