title: Amino acid induced fractal aggregation of gold nanoparticles: Why and how.
abstract: Gold colloids are the object of many studies as they are reported to have potential biological sensing, imaging and drug delivery applications. In the presence of certain amino acids the aggregation of the gold nanoparticles into linear structures is observed, as highlighted by the appearance of a second plasmon band in the UV-Vis spectra of the colloid. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is still under debate. In order to help elucidate this issue, the interaction between gold colloids and different amino acids, modified amino acids and molecules mimicking their side-chain was monitored by UV-Vis absorption, DLS and TEM. The results show that phenomenon can be rationalized in terms of the Diffusion Limited Colloid Aggregation (DLCA) model which gives rise to the fractal aggregation colloids. The global charge of the compound, which influences the ionic strength of the solution, and the ease with which the compound can interact with the GNPs and affect their surface potential, are, the two parameters which control the DLCA regime. Calculations based on the Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey and Overbeek (DLVO) theory confirm all the experimental observations.
authors.affiliation: Engineering of Molecular NanoSystems, Ecole polytechnique de Bruxelles, CP 165/64, Université libre de Bruxelles, 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: mdoyen@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Matthieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doyen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, CP 207, Université libre de Bruxelles, 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: jgoole@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goole
authors.affiliation: Engineering of Molecular NanoSystems, Ecole polytechnique de Bruxelles, CP 165/64, Université libre de Bruxelles, 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: kbartik@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bartik
authors.affiliation: Engineering of Molecular NanoSystems, Ecole polytechnique de Bruxelles, CP 165/64, Université libre de Bruxelles, 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: gbruylan@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bruylants
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry; D017709:Fractals; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D003102:Colloids; D006046:Gold
keywords: Amino acids; DLVO theory; Diffusion Limited Colloidal Aggregation (DLCA); Fractal aggregates; Gold nanoparticles; Plasmon resonance coupling