Biomimetic block copolymer-protected gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared by autoreduction. Excellent colloidal stability of the AuNPs was observed at a high salt concentration and over a wide pH range. Functional AuNPs are useful for label-free detection of an inflammation biomarker, C-reactive protein (CRP).

Illumination based on objective-type total internal reflection (TIR) is nowadays widely used in high-performance fluorescence microscopy. However, the desirable application of such setups for dark-field imaging of scattering entities is cumbersome due to the spatial overlap of illumination and detection light, which cannot be separated spectrally. Here, we report a novel TIR approach based on a...

BACKGROUND High temperatures have destructive effects on cancer cells by damaging proteins and structures within cells. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can act as drug delivery vehicles, especially for cancer therapy. Due to the selective intake of asparagine molecules into malignant cells, AuNPs were coated with asparagine; and CCRF-CEM human T-cell leukemia cells were treated with the new combinat...

Fluorescence and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy were employed to investigate the cellular uptake of rhodamine 6G (R6G) alone and of R6G loaded with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by endothelial cells. R6G plays the role of a Raman reporter in SERS but also displays strong fluorescence. The presence of bare R6G molecules and R6G-AuNPs in the cytoplasm of the cells is detected ...

Due to their easy and low-cost production enhanced properties, noble metal nanoparticles are preferred as nano-additives in most pharmaceutical compositions. For example, silver (AgNPs) gold (AuNPs) possess antiseptic antimicrobial activity they generally for obtaining antibacterial clothing coatings. In the present study, we report a simple, low cost green method synthesizing AgNPs using aqueo...

Recently, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have shown promising biological applications due to their unique electronic and optical properties. However, the potential toxicity of AuNPs remains a major hurdle that impedes their use in clinical settings. Mesoporous silica is very suitable for the use as a coating material for AuNPs and might not only reduce the cytotoxicity of cetyltrimethylammonium bro...

We present an investigation on a coupled system consists of gold nanoparticles and silicon nanocrystals. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) embedded into porous silicon (PSi) were prepared using the electrochemical deposition method. Scanning electron microscope images and energy-dispersive X-ray results indicated that the growth of AuNPs on PSi varies with current density. X-ray diffraction analysis s...

The use of biological structures to template inorganic materials has become an increasingly widespread strategy to develop otherwise synthetically inaccessible hierarchical structures under mild chemical conditions, for use as catalytic and device materials. For example, proteins, peptides, DNA, viruses, cells and multicellular structures have been employed as templates to develop inorganic par...

Determination of the true surface areas, concentrations, and particle sizes of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is a challenging issue due to the nanoparticle morphological irregularity, surface roughness, and size distributions. A ligand adsorption-based technique for determining AuNP surface areas in solution is reported. Using a water-soluble, stable, and highly UV-vis active organothiol, 2-mercap...

Nanoparticle (NP) applications have recently gained more space in the development of many products, especially cosmetology. The aim present study was to validate a single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technique for detection and quantification gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) ions (Au (i)) different cosmetics currently marketed Brazil. size limit pure AuNPs 22 nm, concentratio...