Aggregation of noble metal nanoparticles: A versatile sensing strategy for food safety monitoring

The frequent food safety incidents in recent years have caused great harm on public health, economy, and society, leading to high public attention to food safety. Developing powerful sensing tools for efficient and accurate screening of food hazards is urgently needed to strengthen the public faith in food safety. Noble metal nanoparticles with extraordinary optical properties, particularly localized surface plasmon resonance, have been widely used to build sensors for food safety monitoring. The aggregation of noble metal nanoparticles can significantly promote the optical properties, enhance the electromagnetic field, and increase its hydrodynamic diameter. Thus, sensors based on aggregation of noble metal nanoparticles show excellent performance in screening hazardous substances in foods and promoting food safety. In this regard, the state-of-the-art sensors based on aggregation of noble metal nanoparticles for food safety monitoring were reviewed, with a focus on the sensing principles and analytical performance of selected representative food hazardous substances. Several examples of sensors based on aggregation of noble metal nanoparticles were highlighted, and the challenges and future perspective were elaborated. This review could provide comprehensive information and great motivation for researchers to promote food safety development.