Porous Hollow gold nanoparticles for cancer SERS imaging

Chienwen Huang, Yaowu Hao, James Nyagilo, Digant P. Dave, Lifeng Xu, Xiankai Sun

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) holds great promise for simultaneous detection of multiple molecular biomarkers. With the biocompatibility and functionalizability of gold (Au), Au-nanoparticle based Raman tags possess the potential for in vivo SERS cancer biomarker detection. Here, we report the large scale synthesis of a new type of Au nanoparticles, Porous Hollow Au Nanoparticles (PHAuNPs), and demonstrate their potential application as SERS imaging tags. PHAuNPs feature a sub-20 nm porous shell and a 50 nm void core. Such unique morphology enables them to strongly absorb and scatter near infrared lights due to the surface plasmon resonant effect of Au. This makes them particularly suitable for in vivo applications, where NIR wavelengths are considered as a, clear window'for deeper penetration of light. The construction and characterization of PHAuNP-based Raman nanotag, including attachment of Raman dye, pegylation and their stability, are described. Cytotoxicity of Raman nanotags are tested using [3H]thymidine incorporation method. The results show that pegylated Raman nanotags are stable and non-toxic and can potentially be used for in vivo applications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)137-148
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Nano Research
Volume10
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 7 2010

Keywords

  • Cancer imaging
  • Cytotoxicity
  • Gold nanoparticles
  • SERS

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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