Announcing the Final Examination of Zhiyuan Wei for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Abstract: Lateral flow assay (LFA), also known as test strip, is a widely used point-of-care testing technology. It is a user-friendly detection tool that requires minimal professional training for end users. Over the past several decades, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been the most commonly used colorimetric labels for LFAs due to their distinct and strong red color, which arises from an optical phenomenon called localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). Nevertheless, it has been challenging to significantly improve the detection sensitivity of LFA without adding complexities. Most already reported methods for improving LFA sensitivity involve specialized devices for signal reading, which compromise the simplicity of LFA technology. To address this challenge, this dissertation presents the development of novel metallic nanoparticles as colorimetric labels for LFA. The nanoparticles were designed to exhibit outstanding catalytic activities or plasmonic properties. These engineered nanoparticles produce much more intense colorimetric signal than conventional AuNPs, ensuring high sensitivities for resultant LFAs. We have successfully applied our LFAs for detection of various disease biomarkers. The limits of detection (LoDs) of the LFAs were at the picogram per milliliter level, which is substantially lower than the LoDs of conventional AuNP-based LFAs.
Committee in Charge:
Dr. Xiaohu Xia (chair)
Dr. Yulia Gerasimova
Dr. Shengli Zou
Dr. Gang Chen
Dr. Xiaofeng Feng
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