Alterations of the surfaces of gold nanorods with biomolecules

CHED 454

Jennifer L. Hass, jhass@monm.edu, Sara E. Hitchcock, shitchcock@monm.edu, and Charles W. Blackledge, cblackledge@monm.edu. Department of Chemistry, Monmouth College, 400 E. Broadway, Monmouth, IL 61462
Facile decoration of the surfaces of gold nanorods (NRs) with a biological molecule is demonstrated. Colloidal gold NRs are produced by a colloidal chemical technique in an aqueous solution of the surfactant, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). After growth of gold NRs, the CTAB layer that surrounds the gold NRs is replaced with glutathione. Evidence of the derivatization of the NR surfaces is obtained by acquiring infrared spectra of both the longitudinal plasmon mode of the NRs, and the vibrational spectra of the organic surface species. Gold NRs are candidates for a number of applications, including tissue and cellular imaging and therapy. For gold NRs to make the most real world impact, careful "tuning" of the surface chemistry and plasmon resonance is required. This work focuses on the surface chemistry.