Towards Improved Glucose Detection in Saliva and Point-of-Care Settings Using Plasmatic Gold Nanoparticles

1. Introduction

Gold nanoparticles have gained a lot of interest in medical applications due to their plasmonic properties, and many methods have been explored for synthesizing well-defined particles. The detection of blood glucose using gold nanoparticles is emerging as a new method. In this project, we developed gold nanoparticles, using glucose as a mild reducing and stabilizing agent, to detect glucose in the blood through plasmonic reactions. By exploring innovative technologies and emerging techniques, we aim to enhance the accuracy, convenience, and overall user experience of glucose monitoring when using our potential method. The preliminary results will be presented.

2. Methodology

Various glucose concentrations were meticulously prepared and combined with a consistently proportioned gold solution to synthesize the gold nanoparticles. Sodium hydroxide and heat were employed to accelerate the process. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using absorption spectroscopy and electron microscopy.

3. Results and Application

Glucose is a mild reducing agent, and it reduces the gold salt into gold nanoparticles. The formation of gold nanoparticles was confirmed by measuring the surface plasmon resonance peak around 500 nm. The detection limit was in the range of 2mM to 50 mM with good reducibility, showing the potential application of this method. We are currently working on the interference of other ions/enzymes present in the blood with this procedure and expect to develop a potential method for glucose detection in blood and saliva.