title: Phospholipid-gold nanorod composites.
abstract: Phospholipids comprise an enormous range of chemical structures that provide much of the functionality associated with cellular membranes. We have developed a simple method for incorporating phospholipids onto the surfaces of anisotropic gold nanorods as a stepping-stone for creating responsive and multifunctional nanocomposites. In this report, we demonstrate how phospholipids can be used to control the self-assembly of gold nanorods into agglomerate architectures ranging from open "end-to-end" networks to densely packed "side-to-side" arrays. The results indicate that lipid-gold nanorod assembly is governed by the tuning of electrostatic interactions within the phospholipid layers as well as by how the phospholipid layers organize themselves around anisotropic nanorod surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA. corendo@sandia.gov
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Orendorff
authors.forename: Todd M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.forename: Darryl Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Bruce C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Bunker
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Voigt