NANOcellulose supported localized surface plasmon resonance SENsors with enhanced SElectivity to cadmium ions

Objective

NanoSense will combine plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs), used as optical sensing elements, with properly functionalized nanocelluloses, used as biobased NPs stabilizers, to achieve a new safe, green, ultracompact, and rapid optical plasmonic sensor for cadmium ions with high selectivity and < 5 ppb sensitivity. The use of green materials as stabilizers for light scattering in LSPR sensors remains to be explored to enhance the plasmonic phenomenon and validate their configuration in sensing and biosensing applications. NanoSense will explore renewable and sustainable cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and their topochemical functionalization with biological molecules toward selective and sensitive cadmium sensing as NPs stabilizers in an LSPR sensor. NanoSense’s functionalized nanocellulose will be designed, taking inspiration from nature’s biomolecules, to develop a fast, responsive, and selective cadmium sensor for aqueous matrices. The new biosensing material will be used to modify an inexpensive optical fiber to obtain a cheap portable device to be used on-site for fast diagnosis and Cd+2 chelation stabilization. The project considers cadmium to be a bio-persistent element that accumulates in soils and may contaminate food and drinks, and therefore must be controlled according to EU Regulation 2021/1323. The impactful research of NanoSense will be developed at the University of Pisa, in a renowned group for their studies on nanocellulose's functionalizations and applications. Besides the two-way knowledge transfer between the fellow and the host institution, the peculiarity of the MSCA-PF program, the project devises a clear communication, dissemination, and exploitation plan, and activities are included in an effective career development plan for the researcher, taking advantage of the support offered by the host institution and by the supervisor. The fellow's outreach activities for communicating with the general public are foreseen from the project's start.