![]() ![]() The high operational cost prevents introduction of this technique into laboratory classes at the undergraduate level. For example, Biacore (acquired by General Electric Healthcare in 2006) provides several models of SPR-based instruments (cost $120,000–$250,000) that are compatible only with expensive Biacore accessories and consumables (electrode chips cost $60–$120/each). Commercial SPR devices are prohibitively expensive and require consumable sensor chips that fit certain specifications of size, thickness, and so forth. Since its first use in a real-time analysis of a biological system in 1990s ( 1), surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has become an important optical biosensing technology in the areas of biochemistry, biology, and medical sciences because of its real-time, label-free, and noninvasive nature ( 2). We believe that the SPR device and the SPR laboratory will enhance undergraduate chemical education by introducing students to this important modern instrumentation and will help students to learn and understand the molecular interactions occurring at interfaces. Most of the experimental work was done as a project by a grade 12 high-school student under proper supervision. Students also study the antibody–antigen binding activity. We describe a laboratory experiment in which students examine the relationship between the SPR angle and the solution refractive index at the interface and perform a coupled SPR–electrochemistry experiment. This design allows ease of integration with electrochemistry and makes the device suitable for education. Here we present an affordable homemade SPR device with all of its components accessible to visualization. The high cost of commercial devices and consumables has prevented SPR from being introduced in the undergraduate laboratory. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has become an important optical biosensing technology in the areas of biochemistry, biology, and medical sciences because of its real-time, label-free, and noninvasive nature. ![]()
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