Integrated optical surface plasmon resonance immunoprobe for simazine detection

This paper presents the detailed design and characterisation of a regenerable integrated optical surface plasmon resonance immunoprobe as a detector for the triazine herbicide simazine. A sensor design theoretically optimised for use in the aqueous environment is presented and its fabrication described. Experimental results on the sensitivity to changes in bulk refractive index of the analyte and on non-specific binding of ovalbumin are presented. Binding inhibition immunoassays were conducted for simazine and the lower limit of detection determined to be 0.16 μg/l using anti-simazine IgG antibodies and 0.11 μg/l using anti-simazine Fab fragments. A sample test cycle of 20 min was established.