A Computational Study of COVID-19 Detection using Colorimetric Plasmonic Sensors

Traditional molecular techniques for COVID-19 viral detection are time-consuming and can exhibit a high probability of false negatives. In this work, we present a computational study of COVID-19 detection using plasmonic gold nanoparticles. The resonance wavelength of a COVID-19 virion was recently estimated to be in the near-infrared region. By engineering gold nanospheres to bind with the outer surface of the COVID-19 virus specifically, the resonance frequency can be shifted to the visible range (380 nm–700 nm). Moreover, we show that broadband absorption will emerge in the visible spectrum when the virus is partially covered with gold nanoparticles at a certain percentage. This broadband absorption can be used to guide the development of an efficient and accurate colorimetric plasmon sensor for COVID-19 detection.