Multicomponent nanoarchitectures for the design of optical sensing and diagnostic tools

Abstract

Simultaneous integration of multifunctional properties from different components into a hybrid nanostructure with hierarchical organization is attractive to construct new materials sought for diverse useful applications. This review highlights recent advances in the fabrication of multicomponent organic-conjugated inorganic nanoarchitectures and their potential uses in optical sensing and diagnostic tools. The similarity of the particle sizes, between inorganic hybrids and biomolecules, is the reason they can integrate into new bioconjugated nanocomposites. These multifunctional properties enable such materials to function as dual diagnostic and therapeutic agents in imaging-guided therapy. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-templated replica approaches for fabricating DNA-functionalized plasmonic nanoarchitectures are discussed to show how incorporation of metal clusters onto helical DNA structures occurs. The resulting helix plasmonic assemblies response enhanced plasmonic properties and circular dichroism signals to external environments, means they can function as highly selective bioprobes. Nanocrystal superlattices are prepared by assembling the uniform colloids by guiding the external magnetic field and solvent evaporation. The highly organized superlattices with long-range ordering exhibit optical properties tuned by external stimuli and, consequently they can be useful for desirable optical sensors and photoswitchable patterns. The efforts discussed in this review are expected to present the structural diversity of promising multifunctional nanoarchitectures for the design of efficient optical sensing and diagnostic tools.