Lab talk
Jan 14, 2010
Rapid synthesis of highly stable gold nanoparticles
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Chengde Cancer Hospital China have recently developed a new environmentally friendly route for synthesizing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in one step at room temperature. The product is highly stable, non-toxic, biocompatible, water-soluble, monodispersed and size-controllable.
The gold particles are made in just a few minutes by simply adding sodium hydroxide to the reaction mixture. The chemical acts as an initiator for the reduction of HAuCl4 in aqueous solution in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone without the use of any reducing agent. To control the size of the AuNPs, the researchers simply adjust the PVP/HAuCl4 ratio.
The PVP-stabilized AuNPs demonstrate remarkable in vitro stability in a wide range of ionic strength (0–30 M), temperature (4–100 °C), pH (4.4–13.5), various buffer solutions and physiological conditions.
The generation of PVP-stabilized AuNPs has been found to be non-toxic as assessed through MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays. Also, the production strategy features several green concepts: the choice of friendly solvent, the selection of friendly benign and non-toxic reducing and capping agents, the one-step reaction at room temperature and a reaction time of just a few minutes.
The researchers presented their work in the journal Nanotechnology.
About the author
Min Zhou, PhD is a postdoctoral researcher in the Jon Otto Fossum group, Department of Physics, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. His research involves nanoparticle synthesis, characterization and application in the areas of biomedicine and self-assembly. Baoxiang Wang and Xiaofeng Yu are postdoctoral researchers in the Department of Physics at NTNU. Zbigniew Rozynek is a PhD student in the Department of Physics at NTNU. Jon Otto Fossum and Steinar Raaen are professors in the department of physics at NTNU. The work is a collaboration between NTNU and Chengde Cancer Hospital, China. Dr Zhaohui Xie is a based at Chengde Cancer Hospital. Currently he is exploring cancer diagnosis and therapy using nanotechnology.
