Abstract
Abstract To monitor the progress and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in real time and outside laboratories, it is essential to develop effective tests that can ensure rapid, selective, and reliable diagnosis of infected persons in different environments. Key in this regard is the lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) that can detect the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus quickly, with the aid of nanoparticles (NPs) and specific proteins. We report the use of gold (Au) NPs AuNPs synthesised from a gold(iii) chloride tetrahydrate precursor in a USP device and collected in a suspension composed of deionised water with polyvinylpyrrolidone as a stabiliser and cryoprotectant. In combination with freeze-drying of the AuNPs’ suspension to achieve water elimination, improved stability, and the target concentration, they exhibit the necessary properties for use as markers in LFIA rapid diagnostic tests. This was confirmed by complementary characterisation determined by using the techniques including inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry, dynamic light scattering method and zeta-potential, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersion spectrometer, and transmission electron microscopy, as well as with the preparation of a prototype LFIA test strip with AuNPs. Thus, such AuNPs, as well as the USP method, show promise for the development of new markers for use in LFIA.
Highlights
The entire world is still facing the pandemic of SARSCoV-2 coronavirus outbreak, which poses one of the deepest threats to global human health and the health system since the end of 2019
Given the severity, speed, and complex mode of COVID-19 transmission, it is important for early diagnosis and understanding of the epidemiological features of this disease to ensure the safety of the population while reducing its transmission
Dry AuNPs can be dispersed in a suitable solvent, i.e. phosphate buffer saline (PBS), and this step avoids the complex process of solvent removal or replacement during the conjugation process
Summary
The entire world is still facing the pandemic of SARSCoV-2 coronavirus outbreak, which poses one of the deepest threats to global human health and the health system since the end of 2019. Reliable, and selective diagnosis of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is extremely important for the identification of infected persons or symptomatic carriers, to prevent or reduce the spread of the virus. Since the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, the global health system has been affected severely, mainly due to increased hospitalisation in intensive care units and high mortality rates resulting from severe acute respiratory failure [1,2]. Because the COVID-19 pandemic has spread around the world extremely rapidly with millions of cases, these methods alone are not suitable for monitoring the spread and containment of COVID-19 outbreaks in relative real time outside laboratories. The outbreak has shown that the world is still not adequately prepared for such scenarios, and that there is an urgent requirement to increase research in this field
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