Surface plasmon resonance biosensors for environmental analysis: General aspects and applications

Interest in the development of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) based biosensors for the detection and monitoring of analytes in several fields has been extensively developed in the last decade. Indeed, SPR-based biosensors demonstrate interesting potential for environmental applications, and a substantial number of studies have been reported for heavy metals, dioxins, pesticides, aromatic hydrocarbons, phenol, polychlorinated biphenyls and detection. This paper reviews the current state-of-art in SPR sensors and outlines important issues with regard to the development of high-sensitivity sensors, in particular for the detection of small biomolecules. Furthermore, the future prospects for SPR sensor technology, such as low cost of production, compact design, reusability and increased functionality (multiple analytes detection), are discussed. Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.