Multifunctional immunosensors based on mesoporous silica nanomaterials as efficient sensing platforms in biomedical and food safety analysis: A review of current status and emerging applications

Over the last few years, the progress of biosensing has revolutionized the dynamic domain of medical and food safety analysis. Among various factors, the role of materials and nanomaterials in terms of development biosensors is undeniable. Mesoporous silica nanomaterials as an inseparable and vital part of novel analytical approaches can improve their properties. Elaborately, the unique physiochemical properties including great surface area, tunable nanometer-scale pore sizes and ease of substrate modification can make these materials excellent candidates for biosensing. In addition, adding antibodies to the structure of biosensors based on mesoporous silica nanomaterials can boon the selectivity and sensitivity of these biosensing platforms. To illustrate, the specificity and sensitivity of the antigen-antibody interaction improved the feature of these types of biosensors for selective quantification of numerous targets including viruses, biomarkers, bacterial infections cells and bacteria. In this study, we attempted to review the latest advancement of immunoassays based on mesoporous silica nanomaterials which operate according to electrochemical, optical and electrochemiluminescence techniques in the field of food safety and biomedical analysis. In addition, this study can open new windows for exploiting competent sensing methods as laboratory tools by addressing the current challenges and future perspectives. To elaborate, these sensing approaches should evolve for point-of-care analysis and be designed outside of controlled environments using real-life samples with minimal user involvement.