Monica Florescu
ransilvania University of Brasov, Romania
Title: Nanomaterials and biologically synthesized composites for biosensing applications
Biography
Biography: Monica Florescu
Abstract
Nanotechnology is increasingly used in various applications, from clinical diagnosis to food analysis and environmental monitoring. Nanomaterials can be adapted to be used for the specific detection of biomolecules using sensors and biosensors. They can be used as conductors, signal amplifiers or components of biomolecular recognition. The presentation will highlight the use of commercially available nanomaterials and composites that are fully functionalized or synthesized in our laboratory. Chemically functionalized carbon nanomaterials have been used to detect glucose [1], and carboxyl-functionalized carbon nanotubes have been successfully used to detect levothyroxine. By comparison, physically synthesized bimetallic nanoparticles loaded with reduced graphene oxide were also used to monitor levothyroxine. Enzyme-like catalytic activity has been observed on gold nanoparticles [2], usually obtained by chemical pathways. In our laboratory we obtained biologically synthesized metal nanoparticles and composites, which allow the modulation of activity and selectivity facilitating the applicability of our (bio) sensors in the analysis of real samples, to make the diagnosis at the point of care.
Keywords: Nanomaterials, Composite materials, Biosensing, Biological synthesis