Issue 43, 2017

Bulbous gold–carbon nanodot hybrid nanoclusters for cancer therapy

Abstract

Assemblies of inorganic nanoparticles and carbon nanodots have emerged as promising candidates for hybrid materials in biomedical applications. In this work, the formation and properties of gold nanoparticles synthesized with the aid of carbon nanodots (CND) as reducing/stabilizing agents was investigated. Through careful modification of the reaction conditions, such as precursor concentrations and temperature, the size and shape of the particles can be controlled. In general, CNDs provide reductive sites at which gold seeds can be formed. As the gold nanoparticles grow, the CNDs form a polar solubilizing shell in the polar aqueous environment, yielding bulbous Au@pCND nanoclusters. In fact, charge-transfer interactions between the pCND shell and the Au core are implicit, as confirmed by steady state and time resolved absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies. Finally, this work demonstrated via in cell internalization tests that the size and the shape of the Au@pCND nanoclusters play a crucial role for the cancer cell toxicity. Also the Au@pCND prove to be good candidates as sensitizers in cancer radio-therapy.

Graphical abstract: Bulbous gold–carbon nanodot hybrid nanoclusters for cancer therapy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 Jul 2017
Accepted
16 Oct 2017
First published
16 Oct 2017

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017,5, 8591-8599

Bulbous gold–carbon nanodot hybrid nanoclusters for cancer therapy

D. H. Hasenöhrl, A. Saha, V. Strauss, L. Wibmer, S. Klein, D. M. Guldi and A. Hirsch, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017, 5, 8591 DOI: 10.1039/C7TB02039B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements