Responsivity of Fractal Nanoparticle Assemblies to Multiple Stimuli: Structural Insights on the Modulation of the Optical Properties

Overview

Journal Nanomaterials (Basel)

Date 2022 May 14

PMID 35564238

Authors

Angela Capocefalo

Thomas Bizien

Simona Sennato

Neda Ghofraniha

Federico Bordi

Francesco Brasili

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Multi-responsive nanomaterials based on the self-limited assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles are of great interest due to their widespread employment in sensing applications. We present a thorough investigation of a hybrid nanomaterial based on the protein-mediated aggregation of gold nanoparticles at varying protein concentration, pH and temperature. By combining Small Angle X-ray Scattering with extinction spectroscopy, we are able to frame the morphological features of the formed fractal aggregates in a theoretical model based on patchy interactions. Based on this, we established the main factors that determine the assembly process and their strong correlation with the optical properties of the assemblies. Moreover, the calibration curves that we obtained for each parameter investigated based on the extinction spectra point out to the notable flexibility of this nanomaterial, enabling the selection of different working ranges with high sensitivity. Our study opens for the rational tuning of the morphology and the optical properties of plasmonic assemblies to design colorimetric sensors with improved performances.

Citing Articles

State of the Art in Smart Portable, Wearable, Ingestible and Implantable Devices for Health Status Monitoring and Disease Management.

Mukherjee S, Suleman S, Pilloton R, Narang J, Rani K Sensors (Basel). 2022; 22(11).

PMID: 35684847 PMC: 9185336. DOI: 10.3390/s22114228.

References

Ma X, Kou X, Xu Y, Yang D, Miao P . Colorimetric sensing strategy for heparin assay based on PDDA-induced aggregation of gold nanoparticles. Nanoscale Adv. 2022; 1(2):486-489. PMC: 9473268. DOI: 10.1039/c8na00162f. View

Gerber A, Bundschuh M, Klingelhofer D, Groneberg D . Gold nanoparticles: recent aspects for human toxicology. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2013; 8(1):32. PMC: 4029541. DOI: 10.1186/1745-6673-8-32. View

Lasagna-Reeves C, Gonzalez-Romero D, Barria M, Olmedo I, Clos A, Ramanujam V . Bioaccumulation and toxicity of gold nanoparticles after repeated administration in mice. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010; 393(4):649-55. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2010.02.046. View

Jungblut S, Joswig J, Eychmuller A . Diffusion- and reaction-limited cluster aggregation revisited. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2019; 21(10):5723-5729. PMC: 6484677. DOI: 10.1039/c9cp00549h. View

Kaefer K, Kruger K, Schlapp F, Uzun H, Celiksoy S, Flietel B . Implantable Sensors Based on Gold Nanoparticles for Continuous Long-Term Concentration Monitoring in the Body. Nano Lett. 2021; 21(7):3325-3330. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c00887. View

Xing S, Xu X, Fu P, Xu M, Gao T, Zhang X . Colorimetric detection of single base-pair mismatches based on the interactions of PNA and PNA/DNA complexes with unmodified gold nanoparticles. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2019; 181:333-340. DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2019.05.069. View

Komorek P, Jachimska B, Brand I . Adsorption of lysozyme on gold surfaces in the presence of an external electric potential. Bioelectrochemistry. 2021; 142:107946. DOI: 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2021.107946. View

Sciortino F, Mossa S, Zaccarelli E, Tartaglia P . Equilibrium cluster phases and low-density arrested disordered states: the role of short-range attraction and long-range repulsion. Phys Rev Lett. 2004; 93(5):055701. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.055701. View

Capocefalo A, Deckert-Gaudig T, Brasili F, Postorino P, Deckert V . Unveiling the interaction of protein fibrils with gold nanoparticles by plasmon enhanced nano-spectroscopy. Nanoscale. 2021; 13(34):14469-14479. DOI: 10.1039/d1nr03190b. View

10.

Graczyk A, Pawlowska R, Jedrzejczyk D, Chworos A . Gold Nanoparticles in Conjunction with Nucleic Acids as a Modern Molecular System for Cellular Delivery. Molecules. 2020; 25(1). PMC: 6982881. DOI: 10.3390/molecules25010204. View

11.

Retout M, Mantri Y, Jin Z, Zhou J, Noel G, Donovan B . Peptide-Induced Fractal Assembly of Silver Nanoparticles for Visual Detection of Disease Biomarkers. ACS Nano. 2022; 16(4):6165-6175. PMC: 9530071. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c11643. View

12.

Jiang Y, Shi M, Liu Y, Wan S, Cui C, Zhang L . Aptamer/AuNP Biosensor for Colorimetric Profiling of Exosomal Proteins. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2017; 56(39):11916-11920. PMC: 5912341. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201703807. View

13.

Domenici F, Capocefalo A, Brasili F, Bedini A, Giliberti C, Palomba R . Ultrasound delivery of Surface Enhanced InfraRed Absorption active gold-nanoprobes into fibroblast cells: a biological study via Synchrotron-based InfraRed microanalysis at single cell level. Sci Rep. 2019; 9(1):11845. PMC: 6694135. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-48292-0. View

14.

Aili D, Gryko P, Sepulveda B, Dick J, Kirby N, Heenan R . Polypeptide folding-mediated tuning of the optical and structural properties of gold nanoparticle assemblies. Nano Lett. 2011; 11(12):5564-73. DOI: 10.1021/nl203559s. View

15.

Hierrezuelo J, Sadeghpour A, Szilagyi I, Vaccaro A, Borkovec M . Electrostatic stabilization of charged colloidal particles with adsorbed polyelectrolytes of opposite charge. Langmuir. 2010; 26(19):15109-11. DOI: 10.1021/la102912u. View

16.

Komorek P, Walek M, Jachimska B . Mechanism of lysozyme adsorption onto gold surface determined by quartz crystal microbalance and surface plasmon resonance. Bioelectrochemistry. 2020; 135:107582. DOI: 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2020.107582. View

17.

Wallace G, Lagugne-Labarthet F . Advancements in fractal plasmonics: structures, optical properties, and applications. Analyst. 2018; 144(1):13-30. DOI: 10.1039/c8an01667d. View

18.

Kubiak-Ossowska K, Cwieka M, Kaczynska A, Jachimska B, Mulheran P . Lysozyme adsorption at a silica surface using simulation and experiment: effects of pH on protein layer structure. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2015; 17(37):24070-7. DOI: 10.1039/c5cp03910j. View

19.

Lattuada M, Wu H, Morbidelli M . Hydrodynamic radius of fractal clusters. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2003; 268(1):96-105. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2003.07.028. View

20.

Holler R, Dulle M, Thoma S, Mayer M, Steiner A, Forster S . Protein-Assisted Assembly of Modular 3D Plasmonic Raspberry-like Core/Satellite Nanoclusters: Correlation of Structure and Optical Properties. ACS Nano. 2016; 10(6):5740-50. PMC: 4928146. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.5b07533. View