Nanoparticles in electrochemical immunosensors. A concept and perspective

Nanoparticle-based electrochemical immunosensors are fasci nating and promising screening systems that rely on the affinity binding between antibodies and antigens, allowing the specific detection of diverse types of targets (e.g., proteins, hormones, antibodies). The employment of nanoparticles in the realization of such devices dramatically improves the selectivity, sensitivity, and the transducer surface area for effectively immobilizing the bioreceptor or target molecules. During the last years, the nanoparticles design and fabrication was mainly focused on taking advantage from synergistic effects due to the coupling of different materials. In this review, we summarize the very recent advancements in this regard, with specific emphasis to nanoparticle syntheses procedures, antibody oriented immobili zation strategies and transduction techniques. Moreover, the last trends and applications have been extensively discussed along with the remaining challenges and future perspectives.