On-site Plasmonic Biosensing of (neuro)toxins with civil and military relevance – PlasmoSens

The CBRN threat that certain states or terrorist groups regularly plan is a reality that countries like France are facing and for which they must provide a response. A similar issue arises in the area of food and environment safety, as states need to ensure that their citizens consume healthy food and enjoy a preserved nature. To meet these challenges, the PlasmoSens project aims to design and implement high-performance and innovative analytical tools for the detection and quantification of toxic species of chemical or microbial origin. These devices are biosensors operating with gold and silver plasmonic nanoparticles ensuring signal transduction via a colorimetric reading. Contrary to conventional analytical methodologies, involving sampling, purification and laboratory measurements, the biosensors developed in the PlasmoSens project are intended for on-site analysis providing, in a few minutes, an optical simple and fast readout of the presence of traces of toxic species in complex matrices. These biosensors will be integrated into microfluidic devices generated by 3D printing that act as lab-on-chip. The readout will be achieved by the naked eye but also via portable spectrophotometers connected to smartphones to gain in sensitivity and quantification.