A novel surface plasmon resonance immunosensor for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) based on indirect competitive immunoreaction: a promising approach for on-site landmine detection

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) immunosensor for the determination of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) has been developed based on the principle of indirect competitive immunoreaction. 2,4,6-trinitrophenol-bovine serum albumin (TNP-BSA) conjugate was immobilized onto a SPR gold chip by means of simple physical adsorption. Binding of anti-TNP antibody with TNP-BSA conjugate was detected based on an increase in resonance angle due to antigen-antibody interaction. Preincubation of anti-TNP antibody with TNT suppresses its interaction with immobilized TNP-BSA conjugate, which leads to a decrease in resonance angle shift. Following the dependence of the resonance angle shift, concentration of TNT was detected. Pepsin solution was used for the regeneration of the sensing surface. The response time for TNT measurement is about 22 min. The immunosensor showed excellent sensitivity to TNT in a wide concentration range from 60 ppt to 1000 ppb with good selectivity, stability, and reproducibility. The proposed system is promising for future application for the on-site detection of landmines.