Reversible controlled assembly of thermosensitive polymer-coated gold nanoparticles

Reversible assembly of nanoparticles: theory, strategies and computational simulations

The significant advances in synthesis and functionalization have enabled the preparation of high-quality nanoparticles that have found a plethora of successful applications. The unique physicochemical properties of nanoparticles can be manipulated through the control of size, shape, composition, and surface chemistry, but their technological application possibilities can be further expanded by exploiting the properties that emerge from their assembly. The ability to control the assembly of nanoparticles not only is required for many real technological applications, but allows the combination of the intrinsic properties of nanoparticles and opens the way to the exploitation of their complex interplay, giving access to collective properties. Significant advances and knowledge gained over the past few decades on nanoparticle assembly have made it possible to implement a growing number of strategies for reversible assembly of nanoparticles. In addition to being of interest for basic studies, such advances further broaden the range of applications and the possibility of developing innovative devices using nanoparticles. This review focuses on the reversible assembly of nanoparticles and includes the theoretical aspects related to the concept of reversibility, an up-to-date assessment of the experimental approaches applied to this field and the advanced computational schemes that offer key insights into the assembly mechanisms. We aim to provide readers with a comprehensive guide to address the challenges in assembling reversible nanoparticles and promote their applications.

Stimuli-Responsive Plasmonic Assemblies and Their Biomedical Applications

Among the diverse development of stimuli-responsive assemblies, plasmonic nanoparticle (NP) assemblies functionalized with responsive molecules are of a major interest. In this review, we outline a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of recently reported studies on in vitro and in vivo assembly/disassembly and biomedical applications of plasmonic NPs, wherein stimuli such as enzymes, light, pH, redox potential, temperature, metal ions, magnetic or electric field, and/or multi-stimuli were involved. Stimuli-responsive assemblies have been applied in various biomedical fields including biosensors, surfaced-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), photoacoustic (PA) imaging, multimodal imaging, photo-activated therapy, enhanced X-ray therapy, drug release, stimuli-responsive aggregation-induced cancer therapy, and so on. The perspectives on the use of stimuli-responsive plasmonic assemblies are discussed by addressing future scientific challenges involving assembly/disassembly strategies and applications.

Ordered polymer composite materials: challenges and opportunities

Polymer nanocomposites containing nanoscale fillers are an important class of materials due to their ability to access a wide variety of properties as a function of their composition. In order to take full advantage of these properties, it is critical to control the distribution of nanofillers within the parent polymer matrix, as this structural organization affects how the two constituent components interact with one another. In particular, new methods for generating ordered arrays of nanofillers represent a key underexplored research area, as emergent properties arising from nanoscale ordering can be used to introduce novel functionality currently inaccessible in random composites. The knowledge gained from developing such methods will provide important insight into the thermodynamics and kinetics associated with nanomaterial and polymer assembly. These insights will not only benefit researchers working on new composite materials, but will also deepen our understanding of soft matter systems in general. In this review, we summarize contemporary research efforts in manipulating nanofiller organization in polymer nanocomposites and highlight future challenges and opportunities for constructing ordered nanocomposite materials.

Tailored self-assembled nanocolloidal Huygens scatterers in the visible

Existing nanocolloidal optical resonators exhibiting strong magnetic resonances often suffer from multi-step low yield synthesis methods as well as a limited tunability, particularly in terms of spectral superposition of electric and magnetic resonances, which is the cornerstone for achieving Huygens scatterers. To overcome these drawbacks, we have synthesized clusters of gold nanoparticles using an emulsion-based formulation approach. This fabrication technique involved emulsification of an aqueous suspension of gold nanoparticles in an oil phase, followed by controlled ripening of the emulsion. The structural control of the as synthesized clusters, of mean radius 120 nm and produced in large numbers, is demonstrated with microscopy and X-ray scattering techniques. Using a polarization-resolved multi-angle light scattering setup, we conduct a comprehensive angular and spectroscopic determination of their optical resonant scattering in the visible wavelength range. We thus report on the clear experimental evidence of strong optical magnetic resonances and directional forward scattering patterns. The clusters behave as strong Huygens sources. Our findings crucially show that the electric and magnetic resonances as well as the scattering patterns can be tuned by adjusting the inner cluster structure, modifying a simple parameter of the fabrication method. This experimental approach allows for the large scale production of nanoresonators with potential uses for Huygens metasurfaces.

Production, stabilisation and characterisation of silver nanoparticles coated with bioactive polymers pluronic F68, PVP and PVA

The increasing and alarming panorama of bacterial infections and associated morbidities that occur during medical and hospital procedures makes the development of technologies that aid in controlling such bacterial infections of utmost importance. Recent studies have shown that formulations with metal nanoparticles exhibit good antibacterial properties against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. Moreover, it was demonstrated that some biologically active polymeric materials, when applied in combination with chemical antimicrobial agents, enhance the therapeutic action of the latter. The research effort entertained herein aimed at the physico-chemical characterisation of silver nanoparticles obtained by chemical reduction, stabilised by bioactive polymers polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinylpyrrolidone, and further co-stabilised by pluronic F68. Scanning electron microscopy images of the nanoparticles produced, coated with different stabilisers, have shown that the chemical nature of the stabilisation effect promoted incorporation of pluronic in the nanoparticles and was closely related to an increase in the silver concentration in the nanoparticle samples obtained via energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The study described herein also shows that the nature of the stabiliser favours the interaction of pluronic F68 with samples containing silver nanoparticles.

Stimuli-responsive self-assembly of nanoparticles

Ligand-protected nanoparticles can serve as attractive building blocks for constructing complex chemical systems.

Structure and Dynamics of a N-Methylfulleropyrrolidine-Mediated Gold Nanocomposite: A Spectroscopic Ruler

A mechanistic understanding of the structure and dynamics of a chemically tunable N-methylfulleropyrrolidine (8-NMFP)-assisted gold nanocomposite and its aggregation via a controllable interparticle interaction is reported as a function of the molar ratio and pH of the medium. Electronic structure calculations adopting density functional theory methods implied electrostatic interactions to play a dominant role between 8-NMFP and citrate-capped gold nanoparticles. MM⁺ molecular mechanics force field computations revealed intermolecular gold-gold interactions, contributing toward the formation of spherical composite aggregates. Corroborating these, optical absorption spectra showed the usual surface plasmon band along with a higher-wavelength feature at ∼600-650 nm, indicative of the aggregated nanocomposite. pH-controlled reversible tuning of the plasmonic features in the composite was evident in a pH interval ∼5-6.8, revealing prevalent interparticle electrostatic interactions. In addition, photoluminescence (PL) and time-correlated single-photon counting studies revealed a strong nanocomposite interaction with a pure fluorescent dye, Rhodamine B, indicating excitation energy transfer from the dye to the composite. The dye upon interaction with the nanocomposite showed a significant quenching of its PL intensity and shortening of lifetime. Energy coupling between the metal nanoparticle composite and the emitting molecular dipole resulted in a long-range surface energy transfer (SET) from the donor dye to the surface plasmon modes of the nanoparticle following a donor-acceptor distance dependence of 1/r⁴. This molecular beacon with correlation between the nanoscale structure and the nonradiative nanometal SET can be used as a spectroscopic/molecular ruler in probing advanced functional materials.

Forming End-to-End Oligomers of Gold Nanorods Using Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines

The illumination of aggregated metal nanospecies can create strong local electric fields to brighten Raman scattering. This study describes a procedure to self-assemble gold nanorods (NRs) through the use of porphyrin and phthalocyanine agents to create reproducibly stable and robust NR aggregates in the form of end-to-end oligomers. Narrow inter-rod gaps result, creating electric field "hot spots" between the NRs. The organic linker molecules themselves are potential Raman-based optical labels, and the result is significant numbers of Raman-active species located in the hot spots. NR polymerization was quenched by phospholipid encapsulation, which allows for control of the polydispersity of the aggregate solution, to optimize the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement and permitted the aqueous solubility of the aggregates. The increased presence of Raman-active species in the hot spots and the optimizing of solution polydispersity resulted in the observation of scattering enhancements by encapsulated porphyrins/phthalocyanines of up to 3500-fold over molecular chromophores lacking the NR oligomer host.

One-pot synthesis of sub-3 nm gold nanoparticle networks connected by thio-based multidentate fullerene adducts

A new organo-soluble [60]fullerene hexaadduct bearing twelve thiocyanate functions has been synthesized and successfully used as a stabilizing/assembling agent to assemble homogeneous sub-3 nm gold nanoparticles into extended tridimensional networks.

Preparation of compact nanoparticle clusters from polyethylene glycol-coated gold nanoparticles by fine-tuning colloidal interactions

Low-molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG) has a lower critical solution temperature well outside the boiling point of water at ambient pressure, but it can be reduced at high ionic strengths. We extend this concept to trigger the clustering of gold nanoparticles through the control of colloidal interactions. At high ionic strengths, low-molecular weight (<2000 Da) mPEG-SH-modified gold nanoparticles show clustering with an increase in the solution temperature. The clustering temperature decreases with an increasing ionic strength. The clustering is attributed to the delicate interplay between the high ionic strength and elevated temperature and is interpreted in terms of chain collapse of the surface-grafted PEG molecules. The chain collapse results in a change in the steric interaction term, whereas the high ionic strength eliminates the double-layer repulsion between the particles. The observations are backed by nanoparticle interaction model calculations. We found that the intermediate attractive potential on the order of a few kT allows the experimental fabrication of compact nanoparticle clusters in agreement with theoretical predictions. The approach presented here has the potential to be extended on the externally triggered preparation of nanoparticle clusters with different types of nanoparticles.

Synthesis of CO2/N2-triggered reversible stability-controllable poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-grafted-AuNPs by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization

CO2/N2-triggered stability-controllable gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) grafted with poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDEAEMA) layers (PDEAEMA-g-AuNPs) were synthesized by the surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization of DEAEMA with AuNPs bearing the bis[2-(2-bromoisobutyryloxy)undecyl] layer (grafting from method). Extension of the PDEAEMA chain length increased the stability of the PDEAEMA-g-AuNPs in CO2-bubbled water because of the electrosteric repulsion of the protonated PDEAEMA layer. The chain-length-dependent stability of PDEAEMA-g-AuNPs was confirmed by DLS and UV-vis spectra by using the localized surface plasmon resonance property of the AuNPs, where the extinction wavelength was shifted toward shorter wavelength with increasing PDEAEMA chain length. The reversible stability change with the gas stimuli of CO2/N2 was also successfully demonstrated. Finally, the transfer across the immiscible interface between water and organic solvent was successfully demonstrated by N2-triggered insolubilization of PDEAEMA layer on AuNPs in the aqueous phase, leading to the successful collection of AuNPs using organic solvent from the aqueous phase. Our "grafting from" method of reversible stability-controllable AuNPs can be applied to develop advanced materials such as reusable optical AuNP-based nanosensors because the molecular recognition layer can be constructed by two-step polymerization.

Hybrid micellar hydrogels of a thermosensitive ABA triblock copolymer and hairy nanoparticles: effect of spatial location of hairy nanoparticles on gel properties

This article reports a method for control of spatial location of nanoparticles (NPs) in hybrid micellar hydrogels of a thermosensitive ABA triblock copolymer and polymer brush-grafted NPs (hairy NPs), either inside or outside the core of micelles, and the study of the effect of different locations of NPs on gel properties. Two batches of thermosensitive polymer brush-grafted, 17 nm silica NPs with different lower critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) and a thermosensitive ABA triblock copolymer composed of a poly(ethylene oxide) central block and thermosensitive outer blocks (ABA-D) were synthesized. The different locations of NPs were achieved by controlling the LCST of hairy NPs (LCST(NP)) relative to that of the thermosensitive outer blocks of ABA-D (LCST(ABA)). When the LCST(NP) and LCST(ABA) were similar, the NPs resided in the core of micelles upon heating from below the LCST(NP) and LCST(ABA). When the LCST(NP) was significantly higher, the NPs were located outside the core of micelles as confirmed by fluorescent resonance energy transfer. The effects of different locations of hairy NPs and NP-to-polymer mass ratio on properties of hybrid micellar hydrogels formed from aqueous solutions of ABA-D with a concentration of 10 wt % and various amounts of hairy NPs were studied by rheological measurements. The sol-gel transition temperature (T(sol-gel)) and dynamic storage modulus G' of the gels with NPs inside the core of micelles did not change much with increasing the NP-to-polymer mass ratio. In contrast, the T(sol-gel) of gels with NPs in the interstitial space among micelles increased slightly and the G' decreased significantly with the increase of the NP-to-polymer ratio. The hairy NPs in the interstitial space appeared to affect the formation of polymer networks and increase the fraction of polymer loops, resulting in a lower density of bridging chains and thus a lower G'. In addition, for gels with NPs in the interstitial space, a noticeable increase in G' was observed in the heating ramps above 40 °C, which was likely caused by the collapsed hairy NPs adsorbing polymer chains in the dangling and loop forms, increasing the density of bridging chains.

Structure of arginine overlayers at the aqueous gold interface: implications for nanoparticle assembly

Adsorption of small biomolecules onto the surface of nanoparticles offers a novel route to generation of nanoparticle assemblies with predictable architectures. Previously, ligand-exchange experiments on citrate-capped gold nanoparticles with the amino acid arginine were reported to support linear nanoparticle assemblies. Here, we use a combination of atomistic modeling with experimental characterization to explore aspects of the assembly hypothesis for these systems. Using molecular simulation, we probe the structural and energetic characteristics of arginine overlayers on the Au(111) surface under aqueous conditions at both low- and high-coverage regimes. In the low-density regime, the arginines lie flat on the surface. At constant composition, these overlayers are found to be lower in energy than the densely packed films, although the latter case appears kinetically stable when arginine is adsorbed via the zwitterion group, exposing the charged guanidinium group to the solvent. Our findings suggest that zwitterion-zwitterion hydrogen bonding at the gold surface and minimization of the electrostatic repulsion between adjacent guanidinium groups play key roles in determining arginine overlayer stability at the aqueous gold interface. Ligand-exchange experiments of citrate-capped gold nanoparticles with arginine derivatives agmatine and N-methyl-l-arginine reveal that modification at the guanidinium group significantly diminishes the propensity for linear assembly of the nanoparticles.

Rational design for the controlled aggregation of gold nanorods via phospholipid encapsulation for enhanced Raman scattering

This study describes a procedure that found a balance between the ability of polymer-stabilized nanorods (NRs) to self-assemble and the creation of narrow gaps to make reproducibly bright surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanorod dimers. NRs were end-functionalized with polymers, which enabled end-to-end self-assembly of NR chains and control over inter-rod separation through polymer molecular weight (MW). We found a way to quench the self-assembly, by phospholipid encapsulation, reducing the polydispersity of the aggregates while rendering them water-soluble. This reduction in polydispersity and preferential isolation of short-chain nanorod species is important for maximizing SERS enhancement from nanorod chains. We prepared NR aggregates that exhibit ∼5-50 times greater SERS intensity than isolated rods (and ∼750× greater than bare dye) depending on inter-rod separation, when using Oxazine 725 reporter molecules. Colloidal stability of NR aggregates and temporal stability of the SERS signal in water were observed for 110 days. With enhanced SERS intensity, water solubility, and stability, these NR aggregates are promising optical probes for future biological applications.