Platinum-Decorated Gold Nanoparticle-Based Microfluidic Chip Immunoassay for Ultrasensitive Colorimetric Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein

Gold nanoparticle-based point-of-care tests (POCT) are one of the most widely used diagnostic tools for SARS-CoV-2 screening. However, the limitation of their insufficient sensitivity often leads to false negative results in early disease diagnostics. The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 makes diagnostic tools that are more accurate, sensitive, simple, and affordable in high demand. In this work, we develop a platinum-decorated gold nanoparticle (Au@Pt NP)-based microfluidic chip immunoassay with a sensitivity surpassing that of paper-based detection of nucleocapsid (N) protein, one of the most conserved biomarkers of COVID-19. The synthesized Au@Pt NPs show high stability and catalytic activity in complex environments. The catalytic amplification of Au@Pt NPs enables naked-eye detection of N protein in the low femtogram range (ca. 0.1 pg/mL) and the detection of throat swab samples in under 40 min. This microfluidic chip immunoassay is easy for operation and readout without instrument assistance, making it more suitable for on-site detection and future pathogen surveillance.