DNA-templated preparation of gold nanoparticles.

DNA-mediated gold nanoparticles were prepared by chemical reduction of DNA-Au(III) complex. The DNA-Au(III) was first formed by reacting DNA with HAuCl₄ at a pH of 5.6. The complex in solution was reacted with hydrazine reducing Au(III) to Au. The reduced Au formed nanodimensional aggregates. The particle distributions were obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This method resulted in a rather uniform dispersion of Au nanoparticles of near-spherical shape and 45~80 nm in diameter. Gold nanoparticles were embedded and stabilized by DNA.