Selective SERS Identification of Bacteria Using a Phage/Gold-Silver Nanoalloys Network

In this contribution, a proof of concept for developing an ultrasensitive molecular Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) detection sensor is presented. For the selective capture and detection of the analyzed bacteria molecules, receptor functionalization on the sensor surface is carried out using the phage display technology. Specifically, the different behaviour of the biologically active gold and silver nanoparticles–phage networks, that function as signal reporters for SERS on cell-type specific molecular targets, is reported and discussed. The attention is focused to fully understand the interaction mechanisms between nanoparticles/phage network and living systems. The output of the multivariate analysis of Raman data is in good agreement with biological tests, indicating the robustness of SERS technology to identify cell-type-specific molecular targets with high repeatability and reproducibility.