Gold nanoparticles are widely used in bionanotechnology due to their unique optical properties and ease of surface modification with biomolecules. By assembling these gold nanoparticles into ordered structures their physiochemical properties can be fine-tuned. Gold nanoparticle assemblies have shown a remarkable increase in surface enhanced Raman signals (SERS) which can be further used for biological sensing applications. In addition, their efficient conversion of light to heat energy allows them to be promising candidates for photothermal therapies. A new method for assembling citrate capped gold nanoparticles into crystallographically aligned supraparticles is reported. These are biocompatible and have a strong SERS response. Additionally, these have been shown to convert light to heat more efficiently than their nanoparticle building blocks. Furthermore, gold nanoparticles were assembled onto a superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPION) core. These anisotropic assemblies called suprashells have a plasmon band in the near-infrared (NIR) region which makes them suitable candidates for biological applications. They also make efficient thermal transducers and promising SERS substrates due to the enhancement of signal. Finally, self-assembled structures of monomer fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc) protected amino acids are used as potential templates for gold nanoparticle assemblies. Each Fmoc-amino acid assembles into its own unique structure depending on the intrinsic property of its side chain. These soft templates are used to guide the assembly of gold nanoparticles. It has been found that there is a symbiotic relationship between the gold nanoparticle and amino acid side chain which can dictate the final degree of order.
| Date of Award | 8 Jan 2019 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Awarding Institution | - University Of Strathclyde
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| Supervisor | Duncan Graham (Supervisor) & Alastair Wark (Supervisor) |
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