Phospholipid-gold nanorod composites.
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.
Orendorff
Christopher J
CJ
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA. corendo@sandia.gov
Alam
Todd M
TM
Sasaki
Darryl Y
DY
Bunker
Bruce C
BC
Voigt
James A
JA