Nanophotonic interferometric immunosensor for label-free and real-time monitoring of Irgarol 1051 in sea water

Resumen del trabajo presentado al BRAAVOO Marine Biosensors Workshop, celebrado en Villars-sur-Ollon (Gryon-Suiza) del 24 al 25 de noviembre de 2016.Every year large quantities of wastes and pollutants are dumped in the sea contributing to a slow but constant degradation of the marine water quality. Conventional analytical methodologies are sensitive and selective tools for the sea quality control but they operate only at laboratory settings. Bringing the monitoring tools directly to the contaminated place can result in cost and time savings. In the frame of the BRAAVOO project, we are developing a nanoimmunosensor module for the on-site analysis of sea pollutants. One of these pollutants is Irgarol 1051, a commonly used antifouling paint for marine vessels. Because of its biocidal effect, its presence in the marine environment has a negative impact on marine organisms like corals. We are developing a bimodal waveguide interferometer (BiMW) nano-immunosensor for real-time and label-free detection of Irgarol 1051. The detection is based on a competitive inhibition format assay using a hapten with a similar structure to Irgarol, but with a carboxylic group which can be covalently attached to the sensor surface. Results show limits of detection of few ng/L and the stability of the sensor surface up to 30 measure-regeneration cycles with sea water samples. Each measure-regeneration cycle takes 15 minutes and the sample does not require any pre-treatment.This work has been funded by the 7FP (EU, BRAAVOO Grant Agreement No 614010). ICN2 acknowledges support from the Severo Ochoa Program (MINECO, Grant SEV-2013-0295).Peer Reviewe