Silver Nanoparticle Sensor Array for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2

We report a silver nanoparticle (AgNP) sensor array to detect SARS-CoV-2 viral particles utilizing five peptide receptors to produce a colorimetric response. We show that the interaction of the virus particles with the peptides interferes with the shift in plasmonic absorbance and hinders the formation of snowflake-like fractal assemblies between the AgNPs and the bridging peptides. The limit of detection in water of the sensor array was 500,000 viral copies/mL. We demonstrate the capabilities of the sensor array to distinguish between SARS-CoV-2 (Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants) from the influenza virus at the 99% confidence level through linear discriminant analysis. The sensor array was also able to discriminate three out of five negative exhaled breath condensate samples from five positive SARS-CoV-2 EBC samples.