“…Besides the composition of the label, the morphology and the size of the nanoparticles also play important roles in the sensitivity of LFAs. , For example, increasing the surface area of a nanoparticle allows it to load more bioreceptors (e.g., antibodies, proteins, or aptamers), or the presence of spiked structures can provide different optical properties due to surface-enhanced plasmons. In this context, several research groups have demonstrated how the use of non-spherical nanoparticles with strong plasmonic behaviors (e.g., nanorods, nanocubes, and nanostars) generally produces an improvement in the LFA sensitivity when compared to the use of classical quasi-spherical AuNPs. − Looking in particular at mono- and bimetallic non-spherical nanoparticles, we found studies reporting up to 5-fold and 10-fold improvements in the sensitivity of LFAs when using gold and platinum nanoflowers, respectively. − Uniquely of bimetallic nanoparticles, they have ability to display both plasmonic and catalytic behavior (e.g., Au-based alloy nanoparticles). , This feature has been recently harnessed by two works, where AuPt core–shell and AuPt nanoflowers have been described as dual labels for LFAs, increasing dramatically the sensitivity of the assay up to 2 orders of magnitude. , Thus, non-spherical and hierarchical nanoparticles appear as promising labels to enhance the analytical properties of LFAs.…”