Issue 17, 2013
From the journal:

RSC Advances

PEGylated gold nanoparticles: polymer quantification as a function of PEG lengths and nanoparticle dimensions†

Kamil Rahme,*abc   Lan Chen,abd   Richard G. Hobbs,ab   Michael A. Morris,ab   Caitriona O'Driscolle  and  Justin D. Holmesab  

* Corresponding authors

a Materials Chemistry and Analysis Group, Department of Chemistry and the Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

b Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland

c Department of Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Applied Science, Notre Dame University (Louaize), Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon
E-mail: kamil.rahme@ndu.edu.lb
Fax: +961 9 225164
Tel: +961 9 218950

d Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3RA, UK

e Pharmacodelivery group, School of Pharmacy, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

Abstract

Au nanoparticles with diameters ranging between 15 and 170 nm have been synthesised in aqueous solution using a seed-mediated growth method, employing hydroxylamine hydrochloride as a reducing agent. Thiolated polyethylene glycol (mPEG-SH) polymers, with molecular weights ranging from 2100 to 51 000 g mol−1, were used as efficient particle stabilising ligands. Dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements confirmed that the overall mean diameter and zeta potential of the capped nanoparticles increased in a non-linear way with increasing molecular weight of the mPEG-SH ligand. Electron microscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis of the polymer-capped nanoparticles, with a mean gold core diameter of 15 nm, revealed that the grafting density of the mPEG-SH ligands decreased from 3.93 to 0.31 PEG nm−2 as the molecular weight of the ligands increased from 2100 to 51 400 g mol−1 respectively, due to increased steric hindrance and polymer conformational entropy with increase in the PEG chain length. Additionally, the number of bound mPEG-SH ligands, with a molecular weight of 10 800 g mol−1, was found to increase in a non-linear way from 278 (σ = 42) to approximately 12 960 PEG (σ = 1227) when the mean Au core diameter increased from 15 to 115 nm respectively. However, the grafting density of mPEG10 000-SH ligands was higher on 15 nm Au nanoparticles and decreased slightly from 1.57 to 0.8 PEG nm−2 when the diameter increased; this effect can be attributed to the fact that smaller particles offer higher surface curvature, therefore allowing increased polymer loading per nm2. Au nanoparticles were also shown to interact with CT-26 cells without causing noticeable toxicity.

Graphical abstract: PEGylated gold nanoparticles: polymer quantification as a function of PEG lengths and nanoparticle dimensions

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DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C3RA22739A
Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Nov 2012
Accepted
14 Feb 2013
First published
14 Feb 2013

RSC Adv., 2013,3, 6085-6094

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PEGylated gold nanoparticles: polymer quantification as a function of PEG lengths and nanoparticle dimensions

K. Rahme, L. Chen, R. G. Hobbs, M. A. Morris, C. O'Driscoll and J. D. Holmes, RSC Adv., 2013, 3, 6085 DOI: 10.1039/C3RA22739A

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