0000000000278201
AUTHOR
Maria Lucia Curri
Photo-thermal effects in gold nanorods/DNA complexes
An ingenious combination of plasmonic nanomaterials and one of the most relevant biological systems, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is achieved by bioconjugating gold nanorods (GNRs) with DNA via electrostatic interaction between positively charged GNRs and negatively charged short DNA. The obtained system is investigated as a function of DNA concentration by means of gel electrophoresis, zeta-potential, DNA melting and morphological analysis. It turns out that the obtained bioconjugated systems present both effective electric charge and aggregate size that are particularly amenable for gene therapy and nanomedicine applications. Finally, the effect of the localized (photo-thermal heating) and…
The fate of silver ions in the photochemical synthesis of gold nanorods: an Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure analysis
Water-soluble gold nanorods (Au NRs) were synthesized using a silver-ion mediated photochemical route under UV irradiation. Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) measurements on the Ag K-edge were performed on samples obtained at different Ag/Au ratios and at increasing irradiation times in order to investigate the fate of silver ions during the growth of Au NRs. EXAFS measurements allowed to probe the chemical state and the local environment of silver in the final product. Experimental data suggest that Ag atoms are placed on top of the Au particles as metallic Ag(0), while no significant contribution to the EXAFS spectra comes from AgBr or other Ag(+) based species. The reporte…