Abstract
Nanotechnology has been used in many biosensing and medical applications, in the form of noble metal (gold and silver) nanoparticles and nanostructured substrates. However, the translational clinical and industrial applications still need improvements of the efficiency, selectivity, cost, toxicity, reproducibility, and morphological control at the nanoscale level. In this review, we highlight the recent progress that has been made in the replacement of expensive gold and silver metals with the less expensive aluminum. In addition to low cost, other advantages of the aluminum plasmonic nanostructures include a broad spectral range from deep UV to near IR, providing additional signal enhancement and treatment mechanisms. New synergistic treatments of bacterial infections, cancer, and coronaviruses are envisioned. Coupling with gain media and quantum optical effects improve the performance of the aluminum nanostructures beyond gold and silver.
Highlights
The combination of several treatment mechanisms enabled by aluminum (Al) nanostructures (NSs) may be used to develop new medical devices for sensor-guided therapy, food security, and environmental applications
Classical nanoplasmonics with gold (Au) and silver (Ag) NSs is based on the local electromagnetic near-field enhancement, with surface plasmon resonance (SPR), which depends on the size, shape, and material properties of the NSs
Biosensing using intensities of biomolecules the enhancement on Al nanostructured substrates compared to quartz. (Adapted from Ray et al [129]). (b) Fluorescence on Al nanostructured substrates compared to quartz. (Adapted from Ray et al [129]). (b) Fluorescence spectra of adenine on Al NP array show large enhancement compared to bare quartz. (Adapted from spectraJha of et adenine on Al NP array show large enhancement compared to bare quartz. (Adapted from al. [130]). (c) Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of adenine on Al nanovoids
Summary
The combination of several treatment mechanisms enabled by aluminum (Al) nanostructures (NSs) may be used to develop new medical devices for sensor-guided therapy, food security, and environmental applications. Plasmonic ultraviolet (UV) response and enhanced sensing properties of Al NSs such as Al nanoparticles (NPs) and metamaterial substrates could be used for point-of-care medical treatment. This review is focused on highlighting the biomedical applications of several technologies that could be improved by using aluminum nanoplasmonics. The thickness of the Al2 O3 layer may be used for tuning the plasmonic response of Al NSs in a wide spectral range [1]. We first give an overview of aluminum plasmonics, including nanostructure fabrication (Section 2.1) and treatment mechanisms (Section 2.2). We discuss plasmonic biomedical applications, with withtreatments the treatments of cancer
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