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Synthesis and Investigation of Gold Nanoparticles

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A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2019) | Viewed by 19652

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Agnieszka Więckowska

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Chemistry, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Warsaw, Poland
Interests: surface modification; molecular films on electrode surface; interactions between modified surfaces and analytes; electrochemical properties of gold nanoparticles; supramolecular electrochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) attract attention due to the place where they are located—between the macroscopic and quantum worlds. They can be synthesized relatively easily and their properties can be tuned towards specific applications. AuNPs are characterised by unique electrical, optical, chemical and catalytic properties as well as biocompatibility, therefore the applications of gold nanoparticles include chemical and biological sensors, catalysts, mediators, markers, drug carriers and many more. There is currently great opportunity for scientists to discover and understand the features of this matter dimension between molecules and bulk material, especially when gold nanoparticles of individual nanometer diameters, called monolayer protected clusters, present the properties assigned to molecules.

The Special Issue on “Synthesis and Investigation of Gold Nanoparticles” will showcase the diversity of the world of gold nanoparticles, presenting interesting synthesis methods and unique properties.

Dr. Agnieszka Więckowska
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Gold nanoparticles
Synthesis of gold nanoparticles
Gold clusters
Properties of gold nanoparticles
Properties of gold clusters

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 4599 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Internalization of Phospholipid-Coated Gold Nanoparticles

by Lindsay J. Shearer and Nils O. Petersen

Crystals 2019, 9(10), 544; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9100544 - 21 Oct 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3542

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles are used in health-related research; however, their effectiveness appears to depend on how well they are internalized and where they are destined to travel. Internalization in cells is efficient if the gold nanoparticles are biocompatible, where one possible pathway of cell entry and processing is clathrin-mediated endocytosis. In this work we studied the co-localization of phospholipid-coated gold nanoparticles (PCAuNPs) with markers of the endocytic pathway (Rab and LAMP-1 proteins) in C2C12 and A549 cells and found that the internalization was consistent with clathrin-mediated endocytosis and was cell type dependent. We further found that the time evolution of uptake and disposal of these PCAuNPs was similar for both cell types, but aggregation was more significant in A549 cells. Our results support the use of these PCAuNPs as models for potential drug delivery platforms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Investigation of Gold Nanoparticles)

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16 pages, 2840 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gold Nanoparticle-Mediated Photoporation Enables Delivery of Macromolecules over a Wide Range of Molecular Weights in Human CD4+ T Cells

by Laurens Raes, Clarissa Van Hecke, Julie Michiels, Stephan Stremersch, Juan C. Fraire, Toon Brans, Ranhua Xiong, Stefaan De Smedt, Linos Vandekerckhove, Koen Raemdonck and Kevin Braeckmans

Crystals 2019, 9(8), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9080411 - 7 Aug 2019

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 5907

Abstract

The modification of CD4+ T cells with exogenous nucleic acids or proteins is a critical step in several research and therapeutic applications, such as HIV studies and cancer immunotherapies. However, efficient cell transfections are not always easily achieved when working with these primary hard-to-transfect cells. While the modification of T cells is typically performed by viral transduction or electroporation, their use is associated with safety issues or cytotoxicity. Vapor nanobubble (VNB) photoporation with sensitizing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has recently emerged as a new technology for safe and flexible cell transfections. In this work, we evaluated the potential of VNB photoporation as a novel technique for the intracellular delivery of macromolecules in primary human CD4+ T cells using fluorescent dextrans as model molecules. Our results show that VNB photoporation enables efficient delivery of fluorescent dextrans of 10 kDa in Jurkat (>60% FD10+ cells) as well as in primary human CD4+ T cells (±40% FD10+ cells), with limited cell toxicity (>70% cell viability). We also demonstrated that the technique allows the delivery of dextrans that are up to 500 kDa in Jurkat cells, suggesting its applicability for the delivery of biological macromolecules with a wide range of molecular weights. Altogether, VNB photoporation represents a promising technique for the universal delivery of macromolecules in view of engineering CD4+ T cells for use in a wide variety of research and therapeutic applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Investigation of Gold Nanoparticles)

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14 pages, 3513 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hydrogenation of HOPG-supported Gold Nanoparticles: Features of Initial Stages

by Andrey K. Gatin, Maxim V. Grishin, Nadezhda V. Dokhlikova, Sergey Yu. Sarvadii and Boris R. Shub

Crystals 2019, 9(7), 350; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9070350 - 9 Jul 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3517

Abstract

The features of deuterium adsorption on the surface of gold nanoparticles deposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) were determined. The results showed that deuterium adsorption on gold nanoparticles takes place at room temperature. The results also showed that the filling of the nanoparticles’ surfaces with the adsorbate occurs from the graphite–gold interface until the entire surface is covered by deuterium. The results of quantum chemical simulations are used to explain the experimental data. A simple model of the observed effects is proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Investigation of Gold Nanoparticles)

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Review

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47 pages, 2809 KiB

Open AccessReview

Nanoengineering of Gold Nanoparticles: Green Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications

by Nancy Tepale, Víctor V. A. Fernández-Escamilla, Clara Carreon-Alvarez, Valeria J. González-Coronel, Adan Luna-Flores, Alejandra Carreon-Alvarez and Jacobo Aguilar

Crystals 2019, 9(12), 612; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9120612 - 22 Nov 2019

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 6093

Abstract

The fundamental aspects of the manufacturing of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are discussed in this review. In particular, attention is devoted to the development of a simple and versatile method for the preparation of these nanoparticles. Eco-friendly synthetic routes, such as wet chemistry and biosynthesis with the aid of polymers, are of particular interest. Polymers can act as reducing and/or capping agents, or as soft templates leading to hybrid nanomaterials. This methodology allows control of the synthesis and stability of nanomaterials with novel properties. Thus, this review focus on a fundamental study of AuNPs properties and different techniques to characterize them, e.g., Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), UV-Visible spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Small-angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS), and rheology. Recently, AuNPs obtained by “green” synthesis have been applied in catalysis, in medicine, and as antibacterials, sensors, among others. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Investigation of Gold Nanoparticles)

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