Tailoring porosity and surface functionalization in nanoporous anodic alumina rugate filters for enhanced interferometric biosensing
- 1Department of Electronics, Electric and Automatic Engineering, Rovira i Virgili University (URV) 43007 Tarragona Spain
- 2Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) 43007 Tarragona Spain
Abstract
The influence of porosity and surface functionalization strategies on the biosensing performance of nanoporous anodic alumina rugate filters (NAA-RFs) is systematically investigated using reflectometric interference spectroscopy (RIfS). Highly ordered NAA-RF structures were fabricated by sinusoidal anodization and subsequently tuned through controlled pore-widening processes to achieve different porosity levels. Structural and optical characterization confirmed the formation of modulated nanoporous architectures exhibiting well-defined Fabry–Pérot interference patterns and characteristic stop bands, whose spectral position depends on the effective refractive index of the structure. The sensing performance was evaluated using two distinct surface functionalization strategies. A sequential electrostatic approach based on protein A (SpA) and anti-IgG was employed for IgG detection, while a covalent functionalization using APTES and glutaraldehyde (GTA) enabled the detection of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The results demonstrate that increasing porosity significantly enhances the effective optical thickness (EOT) response due to the larger internal surface area available for molecular binding. Kinetic analysis further revealed that higher porosity leads to not only increased saturation amplitudes but also longer characteristic response times, indicating diffusion limitations within the nanoporous network. Overall, the results highlight the importance of simultaneously tailoring structural parameters and surface chemistry to optimize the performance of NAA-based interferometric biosensors, demonstrating the potential of modulated nanoporous architectures for sensitive and selective biomolecule detection.
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BibTeX
@article{cantons2026tailoring,
title = {{Tailoring porosity and surface functionalization in nanoporous anodic alumina rugate filters for enhanced interferometric biosensing}},
author = {Josep Maria Cantons and Pilar Formentin and Josep Ferré-Borrull and Akash Bachhuka and Lluis F. Marsal},
journal = {Nanoscale Advances},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1039/d6na00533k},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1039/d6na00533k},
note = {CC BY 3.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Tailoring porosity and surface functionalization in nanoporous anodic alumina rugate filters for enhanced interferometric biosensing
AU - Josep Maria Cantons
AU - Pilar Formentin
AU - Josep Ferré-Borrull
AU - Akash Bachhuka
AU - Lluis F. Marsal
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
JO - Nanoscale Advances
DO - 10.1039/d6na00533k
UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/d6na00533k
AB - The influence of porosity and surface functionalization strategies on the biosensing performance of nanoporous anodic alumina rugate filters (NAA-RFs) is systematically investigated using reflectometric interference spectroscopy (RIfS). Highly ordered NAA-RF structures were fabricated by sinusoidal anodization and subsequently tuned through controlled pore-widening processes to achieve different porosity levels. Structural and optical characterization confirmed the formation of modulated nanoporous architectures exhibiting well-defined Fabry–Pérot interference patterns and characteristic stop bands, whose spectral position depends on the effective refractive index of the structure. The sensing performance was evaluated using two distinct surface functionalization strategies. A sequential electrostatic approach based on protein A (SpA) and anti-IgG was employed for IgG detection, while a covalent functionalization using APTES and glutaraldehyde (GTA) enabled the detection of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The results demonstrate that increasing porosity significantly enhances the effective optical thickness (EOT) response due to the larger internal surface area available for molecular binding. Kinetic analysis further revealed that higher porosity leads to not only increased saturation amplitudes but also longer characteristic response times, indicating diffusion limitations within the nanoporous network. Overall, the results highlight the importance of simultaneously tailoring structural parameters and surface chemistry to optimize the performance of NAA-based interferometric biosensors, demonstrating the potential of modulated nanoporous architectures for sensitive and selective biomolecule detection.
SN - 2516-0230
ER -