The use of nanoprobes such as gold, silver, silica or iron-oxide nanoparticles as detection reagents in bioanalytical assays can enable high sensitivity and convenient colorimetric readout. However, high densities of nanoparticles are typically needed for detection. The available synthesis-based enhancement protocols are either limited to gold and silver nanoparticles or rely on precise enzymatic control and optimization. Here, we present a protocol to enhance the colorimetric readout of gold, silver, silica, and iron oxide nanoprobes. It was observed that the colorimetric signal can be improved by up to a 10000-fold factor. The basis for such signal enhancement strategies is the chemical reduction of Au3+ to Au0. There are several chemical reactions that enable the reduction of Au3+ to Au0. In the protocol, Good's buffers and H2O2 are used and it is possible to favor the deposition of Au0 onto the surface of existing nanoprobes, in detriment of the formation of new gold nanoparticles. The protocol consists of the incubation of the microarray with a solution consisting of chloroauric acid and H2O2 in 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid pH 6 buffer following the nanoprobe-based detection assay. The enhancement solution can be applied to paper and glass-based sensors. Moreover, it can be used in commercially available immunoassays as demonstrated by the application of the method to a commercial allergen microarray. The signal development requires less than 5 min of incubation with the enhancement solution and the readout can be assessed by naked eye or low-end image acquisition devices such as a table-top scanner or a digital camera. 

In the Methods section of this Article references 18 to 22 are incorrectly cited. The correct references were omitted from the reference list and appear below as references 1-5. References 18 to 22 are correctly cited in Introduction and Results and Discussion sections. "AuNPs of 10 nm in diameter were prepared following the protocol described by Bastus et al.18." should read: "AuNPs of 10 nm in diameter were prepared following the protocol described by Bastus et al.1." "AgNPs of 90 nm in diameter were prepared following the protocol described by Rivero et al.19." should read: "AgNPs of 90 nm in diameter were prepared following the protocol described by Rivero et al.2" "The size was determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy according to the AgNPs size theory demonstrated by Malynych20." should read: "The size was determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy according to the AgNPs size theory demonstrated by Malynych3." "The coupling of antibody to the NPs was prepared following a modified version of a protocol previously reported by Puertas et al.21." should read: "The coupling of antibody to the NPs was prepared following a modified version of a protocol previously reported by Puertas et al.4." "Microarrays were prepared as previously reported by our group22." should read: "Microarrays were prepared as previously reported by our group5.

The introduction of nanomaterials as detection reagents has enabled improved sensitivity and facilitated detection in a variety of bioanalytical assays. However, high nanoprobe densities are typically needed for colorimetric detection and to circumvent this limitation several enhancement protocols have been reported. Nevertheless, there is currently a lack of universal, enzyme-free and versatile methods that can be readily applied to existing as well as new biosensing strategies. The novel method presented here is shown to enhance the signal of gold nanoparticles enabling visual detection of a spot containing < 10 nanoparticles. Detection of Protein G on paper arrays was improved by a 100-fold amplification factor in under five minutes of assay time, using IgG-labelled gold, silver, silica and iron oxide nanoprobes. Furthermore, we show that the presented protocol can be applied to a commercial allergen microarray assay, ImmunoCAP ISAC sIgE 112, attaining a good agreement with fluorescent detection when analysing human clinical samples.