Nanomaterials-based sensors for the detection of COVID-19: A review

Abstract

With the threat of increasing SARS-CoV-2 cases looming in front of us and no effective and safest vaccine available to curb this pandemic disease due to its sprouting variants, many countries have undergone a lockdown 2.0 or planning a lockdown 3.0. This has upstretched an unprecedented demand to develop rapid, sensitive, and highly selective diagnostic devices that can quickly detect coronavirus (COVID-19). Traditional techniques like polymerase chain reaction have proven to be time-inefficient, expensive, labor intensive, and impracticable in remote settings. This shifts the attention to alternative biosensing devices that can be successfully used to sense the COVID-19 infection and curb the spread of coronavirus cases. Among these, nanomaterial-based biosensors hold immense potential for rapid coronavirus detection because of their noninvasive and susceptible, as well as selective properties that have the potential to give real-time results at an economical cost. These diagnostic devices can be used for mass COVID-19 detection to understand the rapid progression of the infection and give better-suited therapies. This review provides an overview of existing and potential nanomaterial-based biosensors that can be used for rapid SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics. Novel biosensors employing different detection mechanisms are also highlighted in different sections of this review. Practical tools and techniques required to develop such biosensors to make them reliable and portable have also been discussed in the article. Finally, the review is concluded by presenting the current challenges and future perspectives of nanomaterial-based biosensors in SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics.

Keywords: COVID‐19; SARS‐CoV‐2; biosensors; coronavirus sensor; nanomaterial‐based biosensors; pandemic; point of care diagnosis.

FIGURE 1

Trends in the number of cases and death due to coronavirus across different countries and global regions (data collected from WHO official website on June 11, 2021)

FIGURE 2

Diagram representing the options available for viral diagnostics

FIGURE 3

The comparison of major COVID‐19 diagnostic methods

FIGURE 4

Schematic structure of SARS‐Cov‐2 and its possible target sites that can be used for biosensing and diagnosis

FIGURE 5

Biosensors used for SARS‐CoV‐2 detection and diagnosis

FIGURE 6

Schematic diagram representing the parts of a biosensor for COVID‐19 (analyte) detection

FIGURE 7

Sensor response of three different breath samples

FIGURE 8

Schematic diagram representing the electrochemical sensor in a three‐electrode configuration

FIGURE 9

The selective naked‐eye detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 using modified gold nanoparticles

FIGURE 10

Factors to consider for biosensor development for early‐stage COVID‐19 diagnostics

FIGURE 11

SEM images of Au nanoparticles (a, b) 20 CV scans and (c, d) 30 CV scans, and (e). Square wave voltammetry of MERS‐CoV immunosensor