Chemical surface modifications for the development of silicon-based label-free integrated optical (IO) biosensors: A review

[Display omitted] ► IO devices made with silicon based technologies are at the core of biosensors development. ► Surface biofunctionalization is crucial to reach competitive performance. ► Main achievements reached in real sample biosensing are critically discussed. Increasing interest has been paid to label-free biosensors in recent years. Among them, refractive index (RI) optical biosensors enable high density and the chip-scale integration of optical components. This makes them more appealing to help develop lab-on-a-chip devices. Today, many RI integrated optical (IO) devices are made using silicon-based materials. A key issue in their development is the biofunctionalization of sensing surfaces because they provide a specific, sensitive response to the analyte of interest. This review critically discusses the biofunctionalization procedures, assay formats and characterization techniques employed in setting up IO biosensors. In addition, it provides the most relevant results obtained from using these devices for real sample biosensing. Finally, an overview of the most promising future developments in the fields of chemical surface modification and capture agent attachment for IO biosensors follows.